A friend gave me this book as a gift in 1993. I have read a meditation almost every day since. I find it to be uplifting and thought provoking and at the same time centering on things that really matter. The meditations remind me that family and earth matter so much more than materialistics. My daughter also reads daily and has been searching for one as a gift.

Certainly one of the most elegant daily devotional books available today. Hifler is both poet and spiritual guide. This book is a real treat!

I have had this book and gave it to a friend and now I have to replace it. I depended on the daily mediations to give me a positive or clear thought to start my day. It parallels the daily mediations of christianity so closely it makes you realize there truely is only one "Great Spirit". This book has enhanced my life. Until I found this book I only had my christian beliefs of mediations. Now I have something that I can relate to through heritage. I have shared the passages in this book with many friends and it has touched their hearts as deeply as mine. Thank you Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

WHEN I OPENNED THIS WONDERFUL BOOK, THE FIRST PAGE I READ WAS SO PERFECT! MY FRIEND AND I HAD JUST FINISHED DECORATING HER FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE SINCE HER DIVORCE. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS HAD BEEN A VERY EMOTIONAL TIME FOR HER. THE PAGE I TURNED TO SPOKE OF GOOD FRIENDS, TALKING, AND LISTENING. WHAT A WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE IT WAS TO SHARE THE POSITIVE MESSAGE WRITTEN ON THOSE PAGES. IT MADE THE REST OF THE EVENING VERY JOYOUS AND LOVING. I HAVE READ AND GLANCED THROUGH MANY BOOKS OF THIS GENRE, BUT THESE WORDS ARE TRULY INSPIRED FROM THE SOUL. I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS BOOK FOR ALL PEOPLE, YOUNG AND OLD, BIG AND SMALL. MAY ALL WHO SEE THIS REVIEW TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK IT OUT. IT CAN ONLY DO THE WORLD A FAVOR FOR ALL WHO NEED SOME INSPIRATION AND SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE FOR PEACE ON EARTH! LOVE TO ALL! KAREN

I have read this book numerous times. If I were given only one choice of a book to read (outside of the Bible) this book would be it. If more people would read and absorb the lessons in this book, we would have a wonderful world to live in.

I would like to meet Joyce Sequichie Hefler (the author), if she is still alive. She must be a remarkable human being.

A friend gave me her first hard back edition, with her signiture written on it, many years ago. I take this book to bed with me every night and always feel so relaxed with any page I open the book to. This is the best gift you can give to yourself or anyone else, man or women, boy or girl. Order this book and take time to read and absorb the remarkable lessons. You would be glad you did, I am.

The second edition of "A Cherokee Feast of Days" is as uplifting as the first. One can follow it daily to get an insight or inspiration, or, as I often do, scan it to find something that is pertinant now. The second edition uses more modern day situations than the first, so it will be more meaningful to young people. I only wish this edition had an index like the first edition. So far I have given 3 copies of the first edition and 3 copies of the second edition to family and friends. I am ordering 4 more copies today. It is a wonderful little book!

I know the land she writes about - every tree and creek in Cherokee country - for it is the place of my birth, too, and her lovely memories are as true as my own heartbeat. I even knew her beloved Papa. I write about this same land in my own book of memoirs "Sometimes A Wheel Falls Off" (Hawk Publishing Company.) Joyce Hifler wrote a blurb for my book, saying it is "deep and dear and so touching that I want more of it." We have the same homeland and the same abiding reverence for ordinary, holy place. She leads the way in telling this story.

That old saying "big things come in small packages" is perfectly proven in Joyce Sequichie Hifler's "When the Night Bird Sings" -- and don't for an instant underestimate the strength of this book by its diminutive size.

Sequichie Hifler is certainly a modern day mystic for our times. In this small collection of vignettes reflecting on her Cherokee childhood in Oklahoma, her homespun wisdom brings us closer to the true meaning of God than any would-be Deepak Chopra or Marianne Williamson.

With all due respect to those noted authors, it's the simplicity of Sequichie Hifler's writing and the warm introduction to her life through storytelling that unlocks the door and allows us to return to that wonderful place of knowing and understanding.

Throughout the book there is the haunting voice of the Great Spirit that almost demands the reader to run outside and kiss the ground, embrace the trees, touch the flowers and look into the warm eyes of all the little creatures about. We should thank them all for having patience with us while we struggle to remember and return to that which is real and important and necessary in our lives.

Sequichie Hifler writes, "the soul of the Cherokee is forever immutable in its love for a kindred spirit. And yet that love of brother is never so strong as the love for things of nature. So closely woven are these allies of spirit, we can sense that all things are brothers, all people are one with nature. All nature keeps a constant pace; it never forgets and never loses the love of life for which it was made."

Her poignant memories delivered me back in time to my own Oklahoma childhood and to the remarkable, almost daily, celebration of the mystery and magic in nature. She provides a gentle reminder that we are connected, all creatures great and small, and that by gracefully honoring nature we come face to face with the reflection of the God that exists inside each one of us.

Sequichie Hifler might have been deeply and wonderfully exposed to the innate wisdom of her Cherokee elders but she grew up in a time and place where the Christian doctrine was exceptionally unforgiving - unfortunately quite common and typical even in the Oklahoma of my youth. But we survived and transcended it by overcoming our fear of church and heeded that inner call which allowed us to make our own church in the bosom of nature and there find God and become one with the Great Spirit. With remarkable insight she reminds us that "the true church is within each one of us, and it is a personal responsibility to worship there often."

Through the words and memories of Sequichie Hifler we are introduced to some incredibly delightful characters, wise beyond their time, that help pave the path to our journey back home. We marvel at her simple but exceptionally wise mother and applaud when her equally sage-like grandmother encourages Sequichie Hifler to love herself first and unconditionally and watch, as the rest of the world would certainly follow. These are simple words to live by and truly insightful writing that can help you change your life in an instant.

I think, perhaps for me, as one who endeavors to reflect on the simplicity of life through the written word, the following passage moved me more than anything else in the book; and promises to challenge me forever to the way I see things. She writes, "Everything is full of life for such a short time. The image must be as important in my notebook when I read it again as it was when it happened. It must be able to live again on the page in another season. My winter notebook goes with me into spring, and my spring notes are soon filled out with the summer pictures. I record and record, because each image must have time to work through my own fingers and my own consciousness to live on paper. The word is only part of the Spirit, but it feeds the one who cannot stop to see, to experience the purples of the land. I cannot assume readers will know what I have seen, how a flower blooms, how a bird flies, or what fragrance is. To trigger someone else's imagination to see for themselves is to come full circle to awaken my own. No one should miss the purples that accent nature. We who record the whisper of the land must live in it, breathe it and bring it forward. Wonders await us all. But our spirits must be kindled to see and to feel. Then, when we are weary, when all the color has drained from our spirits, we can tap into the life of the land again and find a healing peace."

This is the little book that could and it speaks volumes to anyone who dares to allow Sequichie Hifler's memories to ignite their own and transcend ordinary life. As grandmother Sequichie says, "when you think you have learned all the lessons in life little one - look again." If you look for life's lessons in this book you will be rewarded beyond belief.

When The Night Bird Sings is a beautiful collection of meditations or essays by the author of A Cherokee Feast of Days. How easily and how gently these pages read, like clear water flowing in a stream. As they are absorbed page by page, sequentially or haphazardly, the reader experiences a feeling of renewal. An example of her inspiration is found in Living by Personal Measures: "Plan for good...Rise up and make your own decisions. Open your mind and spirit to new understanding and new ability to overcome any problem - especially inertia. What appears to be impossible may be the wall you can only see from your present stance. If you are willing to give thanks for something you want before you see it, you will not be disappointed. Be constant and faithful to your goals, show gratitude - and one day you will look back and wonder why you ever doubted (p.81)." All of this book of days is to be treasured. It is a gift to the heart. Highest recommendations for inspirational reading.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer