Sacred Ceremonies

Elder's Meditation of the Day - May 20

"...the sacred ceremonies given to us by the Creator are the Heart of our existence. These ceremonies are our first duty."
--Traditional Circle of Elders. NORTHERN CHEYENNE

Hidden in the ceremonies are many truths, many principles, many guidelines for living— our access to the Unseen World, healing and visions. Because the Indian People didn't have schools or books, the Great Spirit gave us Ceremonies. The ceremonies are handed down from generation to generation to learn their meaning. Today, many Indian People live in cities or urban areas where it's hard to learn the ceremonies. We need to go to the Elders and learn the ceremonies so we can pass them on to our children.

Great Spirit, teach me the Secrets of the Ceremonies.

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Change Is It A Good Thing?

Elder's Meditation of the Day - May 17

"If the Great Spirit wanted men to stay in one place He would make the world stand still; but He made it to always change..."
--Chief Flying Hawk, OGLALA SIOUX

The Elders tell us change occurs in two directions. They say, "That which is built is constantly being destroyed; that which is loose is being used to build the new." In other words, change is constantly going on. Many times we hear people say, "I hate change." Does it make sense that the Great Spirit would design people to hate it? The Great Spirit designed people with change abilities such as visioning, imagery and imagination. Maybe we need to learn to use these tools and then we'll look forward to change.

Great Spirit, today, let me see the harmony of Yours, truly changing world

These Daily Meditations come from Whitebison.org to subscribe to them go to
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Kids In Church

This has been going around in emails and I am sure some of you have see it already. It still puts a smile on my face and I thought some of you could use a smile today so here it is.

3-year-old Reese :?
'Our Father, Who does art in heaven,?
Harold is His name.?
Amen.'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

A little boy was overheard praying:?
'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.?
I'm having a real good time like I am.'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

After the christening of his baby brother in church,?
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.?
His father asked him three times what was wrong.?
Finally, the boy replied,?
'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,?
and I wanted to stay with you guys.'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

One particular four-year-old prayed,?
'And forgive us our trash baskets?
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets...'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they?
were on the way to church service,?
'And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?'?
One bright little girl replied,?
'Because people are sleeping.'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3..?
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.?
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.?
'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,?
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'?
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,?
' Ryan , you be Jesus !'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

A father was at the beach with his children?
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,?
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore?
where a seagull lay dead in the sand.?
'Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked.?
'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.?
The boy thought a moment and then said,?
'Did God throw him back down?'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

A wife invited some people to dinner.?
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,?
'Would you like to say the blessing?'?
'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied.?
'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife answered.?
The daughter bowed her head and said,?
'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?

I've lsot my keys. No, you haven't they are right in front of you

by Andrew Goodman

How many times have you declared something lost (like your keys), scoured the whole house and then found what you were looking for directly in front of you? It happens regularly, and is almost invariably associated with the words: "It's lost, I can't find it".

How can it be that something clearly sitting on the table in front of you seems to disappear? Something you were sure was in your pocket. But even after emptying your pockets you find nothing. Later, after you've forgotten about it, you find what you were looking for right there in your pocket.

It's really all about belief and expectation. Belief and expectation is what makes your life happen the way it does. In the same way that if you believe your keys are lost you wont see them, if you do not believe something, you will not see the evidence to back it up. Your beliefs have not come to you overnight, they are the process of years of life and millions of thoughts, the same is true of your expectations.

If, rather than saying, "I've lost my keys", you could distract yourself for ten minutes and forget that you'd lost them, they would probably show up. This is easier said than done, but it does work. If you continue to think and believe that your keys are lost, or that you are always losing your keys, then they will continue to elude you, because as far as you believe, they are lost.

Not very often do people take this simple common example and extrapolate it further. The main topics we are all interested in are Love, Health and Wealth, and our beliefs on these subjects are very important to us. If you have been convinced by the world around you that you are ugly, unlovable, poor, stupid or fat, and you hold these beliefs, then it will be difficult to be other than this without changing your beliefs. Furthermore, you may be asking the universe for things to help you get out of this predicament, and still missing all the opportunities that come along, because your beliefs mean that you can't see them.

If you think that as you get older, your body is going to age and wrinkle and deteriorate until you are in hospital with plastic tubes up your nose, this will probably be your experience. It needn't be this way, however. If, because of a string of bad relationship, you are always left by your lover for someone else, your belief will attract men who help you to reinforce this belief. Admittedly some of our beliefs are formed by the lives that we live, but we can can change them with a little effort. What kind of beliefs do you hold on the subjects that are important to you? Do you believe that to become rich you have to put others down, that you must work long and hard at a job that you dislike? Do you like these beliefs and where they're leading you?

As far as life is concerned, we get to choose, and the world will back up our beliefs with solid evidence. Those who rise above the masses and excel in their chosen field understand this. They invariably have strong, unwavering minds, and an ability to focus on subjects which are important to them, on things that they want. They also have a determination to keep at it no matter what. This trained focus on thoughts forms their beliefs, which they end up living.

If what I'm saying is true (and of course it is), then we can decide what we want to believe, and live it. It is true that you will end up living your beliefs, but beliefs are formed over a long period of time and it takes focus and training of the mind over time to change beliefs, and as the majority spend most of their time focussed upon what is happening around them rather than what they would prefer, the evolutionary progress of society as individuals, is inevitably slowed.

A belief is a thought that you keep thinking long enough that it becomes the place you go to most readily on whatever subject. So as you focus on a thought long enough, you start to attract evidence that backs it up, and eventually, you believe it yourself and start living it in your life. You set the tone with your thinking and beliefs and let the world show you stuff that matches it. Most people do this the other way round, observe and get more of what they are observing etc.

When things are looking a bit wobbly economically, it is important to keep an eye on where we want to go, and not get so bogged down in the detail. Unfortunately the UK press is about the worst offender when it comes to depressing, negative news anywhere in the world. If you want to know why our recession is worse than any other, look no further. If you don't look at where you want to go, you will not move in that direction. Argue all you want for reasons why you can't do something, but know that they are your limitations, and yours alone. Realise that you alone are in charge of your life, and you need to focus on what you want, to get to where you want to go.

If most of the UK believe we're in a recession, then we are in recession. If most believe that we're recovering, then the economy is on the mend. What is economy if not the people's perception of value? It may be happening on a grass roots level, with individuals living their own lives, their own little recessions, but if millions think similarly, you have a recession. That doesn't mean that there is no money available, but that through their beliefs, people literally cannot see opportunities that lie right in front of them, because their beliefs say otherwise. If you're convinced that nobody loves you, your ideal life partner could come up to you, showing clear interest in you, and you wouldn't have a clue what was going on. You wouldn't be able to see it, even if it was right in front of your nose.

About the Author:

Andrew Goodman is a freelance chartered engineer with a keen interest in the lighter side of life. If you have enjoyed this article, visit Happyhappyhappynews.com for more of the same and some positive news articles, and subscribe to the site feed for regular updates.