Two Wolves

I was sifting though some old papers; letters and journals.  Things I'd written down long ago and came across this.  Obviously, this wasn't mine; I mean, I did not write this.  It's an old Cherokee story.  One worth repeating. 

One evening an old Cherokee grandfather told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is 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 grandfather simply replied, "The one you feed."


~~~~~~~~~

In the Science of Mind philosophy there is often a point at which you'll ask, but what about darkness?  What about violence and malevolence in this world?  How can you explain that?  How can you suggest that we simply love our enemies?  And it's a difficult pill to swallow, but I think the best way to see it is like this: without the darkness, the light would be less brilliant.   Without struggle, the joy would be less appreciated.  Without loss, that which we have wouldn't seem as bountiful. 

Feeding the negativity in our lives only produces more negativity.  Feeding ignorance, arrogance, judgement, betrayal, dishonestly, etc...only feed that which will eventually consume you and those around you. 

But, feeding the love, the hope, serenity and empathy that is required to truly act as the way of God to express the divine gifts through you is a miraculously altruistic act that has mysterious ways of returning to you tenfold. 

I beseech of you to consider trying this, mindfully for ten days and see what results become from the experiment. 

Nameste.