One evening a wise old grandfather told his
grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two
"wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, 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 wise grandfather simply replied,
"The one you feed."
From this old story, which comes from
the Cherokee people, the evil wolf can appear in sheep’s clothing. There are at
least two aspects of ourselves which can seem to be a war within us. We have devices and desires which encourage
us to go places that we know we should not go and do things that we should not
do. St. Paul was very aware of this
battle. He complains to God in a prayer
of desperation, which is unusual for him, “I do not
understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing
I hate”.
The collect for today sums it up:
O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth
all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us
all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Do we always know what is profitable for us today? Do we always know which wolf we are
feeding? I don’t think it is. Perhaps it has never been as two thousand
years ago St. Paul was struggling with this challenge. I don’t know the origin of the Cherokee
Legend but it legends are usually ancient.
But what of profit; is it always a good thing? Today the world certainly looks at profit as
a good thing. A company which has its
bottom line in the black is looked on as a good investment. However, making a profit can be good whether
it is personal or corporate or for government.
Profit is considered to be an admirable thing. However, it depends on what you do to make
that profit. We can live lives that are
profitable when we look at the bottom line of our bank accounts, but how we are
spending our resources.
Which wolf will we feed?
The quest for corporate profits can be ruthless when it
seeks to put share value and the bottom line over proper treatment of
workers. It can seek to break unions and
seek the lowest wage jurisdiction without regard for what happens to
workers. It can encourage corporate
managers to line their own pockets with stock options rather than the long term
health of the company.
Which wolf will we feed?
The same can be true for us as individuals. How are we giving back from our bounty? For many years I have been a follower of a
column in the Saturday Globe and Mail; the Financial Facelift. This column takes a look people’s financial
situation—there assets and liabilities and how they spend their money and
recommend what changes they should make to reach their goals—often it is having
a secure retirement or owning a house or enough money to live comfortably. There is nothing wrong with that. However, I have been saddened by the small
amount that people often give to charity in their spending. These are usually people who are relatively
well off—comfortably middle class.
Sometimes they are in poor financial shape—usually because their
spending is in excess of their income—sometimes radically. However, their spending often doesn’t include
much in charitable donations. There was
one column recently that illustrates this.
A letter to the editor commented on it which I will quote from:
Last Saturday’s couple in
their 50’s with total assets of $2.5 million took the prize for self-indulgence. Buried among the expenditures of a net monthly income $13,975 were vacation
spending ($500), discretionary ($1,131), dining, drinks and entertainment
($775) and charity ($10). What? Did they
buy some Girl Guide cookies?
Which wolf will we feed?
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?
Jesus lays it on the line for us.
We can have a debt free financial bottom line. We can spend our money on vacations and
cottages and all sorts of luxury items. Can
we gain our worldly security and lose our souls?
That is true for us and it is true for individuals and our
corporations and our governments. How
are those who are on the fringes of society treated by our governments who
represent us? How are treated by us personally? How much support do out governments give to
refugees and aid to third world countries?
Which wolf will we feed?
Jesus tells us, “Ye shall know them by their
fruits.” Are our lives going to produce
good fruit or will it produce grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? A good tree bringeth forth good fruit and a
corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
Which wolf will we feed?
We do have two wolves within us; an evil one and a good
one—an evil tree and a good tree. It is
not always easy to recognize which is which.
And when we do recognize it, it is often not easy to feed the good one
as St. Paul tells us.
All we can do is to make the effort to recognize which
is which. When we do recognize it we can
strive to feed the right one. When we
fail, when we fall into sin as we inevitably will, we can repent and turn
around. We have the assurance of God’s
forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Let us feed the wolf of our better nature. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment