I was turned onto this old Cherokee folk tale by a friend and I was moved by it, especially in this Lenten season it seemed to fit for me.
I was especially interested because I have always been told by my parents that my paternal grandmother was a quarter Cherokee. She looked it. My middle name is after her.
The author is unknown, like many fables. As follows.
A grandfather was teaching his grandson. He told him that there is a fight going on inside us.
He said it is between two mighty wolves.
One wolf is Evil: anger, envy, sorrow, regret,
fearful thinking, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority and ego.
The other wolf is Good: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity,
truth, compassion and faith.
The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"
The old warrior simply replied, "The one I feed."
1 comment:
This is a wonderful parable. I've seen it reworked in several ways including an Orthodox monastic spiritual father... I guess that means it is universally true since people rewrite it to reflect many spiritual traditions.
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