Elegant is the word for gulls flying overhead. Their graceful movements and backswept wings showed only black and silver as they glinted in the sun. They swooped and darted and flew in wide circles over the meadows as they fed on high-flying insects in the mellow sunlight. Gulls in flight show the simplicity that living should have. Though they are very swift, they appear not to hurry; they go silently and they do not quarrel with each other. A person can say, "I want to be like that" - to have a purpose and to go about it without ruffled feathers and demanding attention for all the wrong reasons.

~ All living creatures and all plants are a benefit to something. ~

SHOOTER - TETON SIOUX

'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 8

"We as men should not fear our mates; we should listen to their counsel."

--Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders

The Elders say the men should look at women in a sacred way. The men should never put women down or shame them in any way. When we have problems, we should seek their counsel. We should share with them openly. A woman has intuitive thought. She has access to another system of knowledge that few men develop. She can help us understand. We must treat her in a good way.

Great Spirit, let me look upon the woman in a good way.

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Cooperation is said to be the essence of success. Without it confusion and chaos are the ruling factors and in harmony the main thought. Cooperation is a result of excellent leadership, the ability to build a team of loyal players who can follow instructions or think for themselves, whichever is for the best of all concerned.

A team is a group with specific parts to play. In all wisdom they know a little about every part, but they play their own positions with precision and efficiency.

Every player cannot be captain, and every person cannot play quarterback. The part may be small, but if it is played with fairness and dignity and to the utmost of ability, then it will be as important to the successful outcomes or results as the biggest job in the team.

The practical view of cooperation is vivid in John Dickinson's words, "By uniting we stand; by dividing we fall." We are only as strong as the weakest, only as cooperative as the spirit in which we work.