Elder's Meditation of the Day

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 27

"...you have to believe it first. Not wait until you see it first, then touch it, then believe it...You have to say it from the heart."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
We are designed to function from faith. First we pray. Then we use our imagination to create a vision or picture in our mind. We surround this mental picture with our emotions or feelings. These feelings are available when we ask or say it from the heart. The combination of the mental picture and asking from the heart to create the emotions will cause us to believe it. Then we just need to wait. We need to believe as though it is already done.
Great Spirit, remove from me any doubt that comes up today.

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 4

"You can pray for whatever you want, but it is always best to pray for others, not for yourself."
--John Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
When you are selfish and you pray, you are requesting things to flow only to you. When you are selfless, you are praying for things to flow to others. The old ones say this is the highest form of prayer. Praying this way is according to the Natural Laws.
Great Spirit, today, let my thoughts be about others.

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 7

"Women. They have the power of generations. Women have the power to have children and not to have children."
--Cecilia Mitchell, MOHAWK
The Woman is not only the key to life; she is also the key to future generations. An Elder once joked that the Woman only needs the man for one night. We need to look at and respect the power of the Woman. She is special and we need to treat her that way.
Great Spirit, today, let me show the greatest respect to our Women.

[Myriel RAouine]

Thank you for this wonderful message, joni, the 7th is my birthday ;-)

[Joni]

happy birthday sweet sister!

Sonja Myriel said:

Thank you for this wonderful message, joni, the 7th is my birthday ;-)

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 8
"The very dust under your feet responds more lovingly to our footsteps than to yours, because it is the ashes of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch, for the soil is rich with the life of our kindred."
--Chief Seattle, SUQUAMISH
If you respect something, it will respect you back. If your ancestors respected something, the future generations will be respected back. The Indian ancestors always showed great respect for the Earth. That's why the Earth is so respectful to Indians today. Every Indian naturally feels connectedness to the Earth. We know the Earth holds our ancestors. If we continue to respect Mother Earth, our children will benefit and so will our grand- children. Today, we should think about and pray for our Mother Earth.
Grandmother, let me have strong feelings for our Earth today.

[Joni]

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 11

"Spiritual matters are difficult to explain because you must live with them in order to fully understand them."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
To know something we must become one with it. We cannot know what a flower smells like until we actually smell it. Close your eyes and experience the fragrance. The Elders say there are two worlds, the Seen World and the Unseen World. To experience the Seen World we need to physically pick the flower and smell it. To experience the Unseen World we need to know about principles, laws and values; and no matter what our mind or our physical senses tell us, we must decide and act on these principles. If someone does wrong to us, we must pray for that person or persons to have peace, happiness and joy in their life. We must not get even or retaliate in any way. Only by doing this can we understand spiritual matters.
Great Spirit, give me your power whenever my weakness shows so I can live by spiritual decisions.

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 12

"Dissimilar things were fitted together to make something beautiful and whole."
--Nippawanock, ARAPAHOE
Sometimes we look at something close up and it appears to be ugly; but then we drop back and look at it as a whole and it is beautiful. If we look at an insect close up, it may be ugly, but if we drop back and look at the whole insect it becomes beautiful. We can drop back even more and observe what its role and purpose is, and the insect becomes even more beautiful and whole. How are we looking at ourselves? Are we focused on something ugly about ourselves, or are we dropping back and looking at ourselves as a whole? We all have purpose, and we are all beautiful.
Grandfather, today, let me see the beauty of the whole.

[Myriel RAouine]

This is GREAT ... and so true!

Spirit, give me the knowledge and wisdom to act in God's name applying the principles, laws and values of the Unseen World ALWAYS!

joni said:

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 11

"Spiritual matters are difficult to explain because you must live with them in order to fully understand them."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
To know something we must become one with it. We cannot know what a flower smells like until we actually smell it. Close your eyes and experience the fragrance. The Elders say there are two worlds, the Seen World and the Unseen World. To experience the Seen World we need to physically pick the flower and smell it. To experience the Unseen World we need to know about principles, laws and values; and no matter what our mind or our physical senses tell us, we must decide and act on these principles. If someone does wrong to us, we must pray for that person or persons to have peace, happiness and joy in their life. We must not get even or retaliate in any way. Only by doing this can we understand spiritual matters.
Great Spirit, give me your power whenever my weakness shows so I can live by spiritual decisions.

Thank you joni for continuing this discussion!

[Joni]

your welcome sonja :)

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 13

"Once you make a friend, a friend never leaves you, even to death. So a friend is really hard to find."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
Once, an Elder told me he made a decision to be my friend. He said this friendship wasn't based on my behavior or how I acted; he said the friendship was based on his decision. He decided to be my friend. This friendship has happened like he said. Even if I don't see him for a long time, or if I get mad at him, he has never changed his decision. This is true friendship.
Great Spirit, I'm glad you are this kind of Friend.
thank you all for gifting me with your friendship....

[Joni]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - April 15

"When people live far from the scenes of the Great Spirit's making, it's easy for them to forget his laws."
--Walking Buffalo, STONEY
Society today is way off track. Unfortunately, many Indian people are caught up in these modern times. The Elders are telling us we must wake up! We must come back to the culture because this is where His laws are. If we don't follow these laws, we will be unhappy. We cannot do things just because everybody is doing them. This does not make it right. We must follow what the Great Spirit says we must do. We need to pray hard for the courage to come back and live according to the culture. It will be difficult at first but worth it in the end. We must teach our children the culture.
Great Spirit, today, let me listen to the warnings of the Elders.