January 20 - Daily Feast
Volume II
The wounded frequently want to hurt others. Meanness is not always involved but an unconscious bitterness that wants to control. The worst wounds are not always physical. Some who have suffered psychological wounds are bent on full payment whether or not it is due. The pity of it is, the wounded is the only one that cannot escape. Pain and unforgiveness are replayed day after day - as though sadness is an honorable reason never to heal. Whole lifetimes are given to demanding respect and veneration - for no other reason than life has dealt them a wound, a wound that would heal if there were a little love.
~ A man ought to desire that which is genuine instead of that which is artificial. ~
OKUTE - TETON SIOUX, 1911
"A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II" by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 20
"The most important thing now is to reveal the inner temple of the soul with right thinking and right activity."
--Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU
The key to growing a strong tree is to have a good system of roots and to feed the roots with good medicine. If we put poison in the root system, it will affect the tree, and it will become obvious to the rest of the forest what is being fed to the roots. This is also true of the human being. We need to feed our roots with right thinking. If our thinking is right, it will become obvious to the rest of the people. We don't need to tell people about ourselves with our mouth because our actions always tell them.
Great Spirit, direct my thinking today. Feed my roots.
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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
True forgiveness could be described as a divine amnesty where we receive a pardon from the unworthy things we've done, and have another chance to prove our worth. Forgiveness is something we must give in order to receive. And we have a tendency to linger over old grudges, using them to bolster our reasons for not forgiving. But we cannot return to the past, nor can we change one whit of anything that happened then. We cannot make up for resentments we've caused in others, no more than they can make up for ours.
To forgive is divine. God is above punishment, but we are not. It is we, not God, who punish by taking things into our own hands and making them work for our own selfish reasons. We demand punishment by hanging on to painful past experiences that produce self-pity. We are the ones who blame God's will for our illness, our poverty, our lack of friends. But we are wrong, for there is a moment of truth when we face ourselves and know that we are the guilty.
And there is a time such as William Wordsworth wrote about, "that blessed mood, in which the burden of the mystery, in which they heavy and weary weight of all this unintelligible world, is lightened"....because we've been forgiven.
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Chinok Lordís Prayer
Nesika papa klaksta mitlite kopa saghalie
Our Father Who dwells in High
Kloshe kopa nesika tumtum mika nem.
Good for our hearts Your Name.
Kloske mika tyee kopa konaway tillikum;
Good you Chief of all people;
Kloshe mika tumtum kopa illahee kahkwa kopa saghalie;
God Your heart to make our country such as Yours up above;
Potlach konaway sun nesika muckamuck,
Gice us all days our food,
Pee kopet-kumtux donaway nesika mesachie,
And stop remembering all our sins we make to them,
Kahkwa nesilka mamook kopa klasksta spose mamook mesachie kopa nesia;
As we suppose not their sin against us;
Mahah siah kopa nesika konaway mesachie.
Throw far away from us all evil.
Kloshe kahkwa.
Aho , Amen , e-men.
Sun Tracks
the Track of the Sun
across the Sky
leaves its shining message,
Illuminating,
Strengthening,
Warming,
us who are here,
showing us we are not alone,
we are yet ALIVE!
And this fireÖ
Our fireÖ
Shall not die!
Aho , Amen , e-men .
God's Minute
AND JESUS SAID: "I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, UNLESS YOU
CHANGE AND BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, YOU WILL
NEVER ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
( MATTHEW 18:3 *NIV )
Dear Member's,
I have never seen the verse above described better then
through the actions of a three-year-old child in the message
below. This message was sent to me a few days ago by one
of our subscribers. It asks us this important question.
"Do You Know Bailey's Jesus?" In the following message I
could feel the love and it brings tears to my eyes ever time
that I read it. I hope that it will move you as well, and that
you will enjoy it as much as I do.....
"Bailey's Jesus!"
God recently allowed me to see Jesus through the eyes of
someone seeing Him for the first time. Having the advantage of
knowing how the story ends, we can easily forget the cost of our
redemption and the love of our Savior.
Every year we attend a local church pageant which tells the
story of Jesus from His birth through His resurrection. It is
a spectacular event, with live animals and hundreds of cast
members in realistic costumes. The magi enter the huge
auditorium on llamas from the rear, descending the steps in
pomp and majesty. Roman soldiers look huge and menacing
in their costumes and makeup.
Of all the years we have attended, one stands out indelibly in
my heart. It was the year we took our then three-year-old
granddaughter, Bailey, who loves Jesus. She was mesmerized
throughout the entire play, not just watching, but involved as if
she were a player. She watches as Joseph and Mary travel to
the Inn and is thrilled when she sees the baby Jesus in His
mother's arms.
Later when Jesus, on a young donkey, descends the steps
from the back of the auditorium, depicting His triumphal entry into
Jerusalem, Bailey was ecstatic. As he neared our aisle, Bailey
began jumping up and down, screaming, "Jesus, Jesus! There's
Jesus!" Not just saying the words but exclaiming them with every
fiber of her being. She alternated between screaming his name
and hugging us. "It's Jesus. Look!" I thought she might actually
pass out.
Tears filled my eyes as I looked at Jesus through the eyes of a
child in love with Him, seeing Him for the first time. How like the
blind beggar screaming out in reckless abandon, "Jesus, Jesus!",
afraid he might miss Him, not caring what others thought. This
was so much fun.
Then came the arrest scene. On stage, the soldiers shoved
and slapped Jesus as they moved Him from the Garden of
Gethsemane to Pilate. Bailey responded as if she were in the
crowd of women, with terror and anger. "Stop it!" she screamed.
"Bad soldiers, stop it!" As I watched her reaction, I wished we
had talked to her before the play. "Bailey it's OK. They are just
pretending," but she shouted "They are hurting Jesus! Stop it!"
She stood in her seat reacting to each and every move. People
around us at first smiled at her reaction, thinking "How cute!".
Then they quit smiling and began watching her watch Him. In a
most powerful scene, the soldiers lead Jesus carrying the cross
down the steps of the auditorium from the back. They were
yelling, whipping, and cursing at Jesus, who was bloodied and
beaten. Bailey was now hysterical. "Stop it! Soldiers! Stop it,"
she screamed. She must have been wondering why all these
people did nothing. She then began to cry instead of scream.
"Jesus, Oh, Jesus!" People all around us began to weep as we
all watch this devoted little disciple see her Jesus beaten and
killed as those first century disciples had.
Now going back and forth between her mother's lap and mine
for comfort, she was distraught. I kept saying, "Bailey, it's OK.
Jesus is going to be OK.
These are just people pretending to be soldiers. She looked at
me like I was crazy. In my lap, we talked through the cross and
burial. "Watch, Bailey, watch for Jesus!"
The tomb began to tremble and lightening flashed as the stone
rolled away. A super bowl touchdown cheer couldn't come close
to matching this little one's reaction to the resurrection. "Jesus!
He's OK. Mommy, it's Jesus!" " It's Jesus!"
I prayed that she wasn't going to be traumatized by this event,
but that she would remember it. I shall never forget it. I shall
never forget seeing Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection
through the eyes of an innocent child.
Following the pageant the actors all assembled in the foyer to
be greeted by the audience. As we passed by some of the
soldiers Bailey screamed out, "Bad soldier, don't you hurt
Jesus." The actor who portrayed Jesus was some distance away
surrounded by well-wishers and friends. Bailey broke away from
us and ran toward Him, wrapping herself around His legs, holding
on for dear life. He hugged her and said, "Jesus loves you." He
patted her to go away. She wouldn't let go. She kept clinging to
Him, laughing and calling His name. She wasn't about to let go
of her Jesus.
I think God in heaven stopped what ever was going on that day
and made all the angels watch Bailey. "Now, look there! You
see what I meant when I said; "LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN
COME TO ME, AND DO NOT HINDER THEM, FOR THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE."
Amen! ( MATTHEW 19:14 )
With My Love & Prayers,
your servant , Pastor Cougarmoon
