I recently read a parable that I wanted to share with you that impacted my thinking as we continue to move through the pandemic. This is a shorter form of a Cherokee story/parable that has been passed down across many generations. The lesson is clear and yet I find myself thinking in new directions as I re-read it.
I first encountered this parable as I researched the podcast entitled “The One You Feed.” You can find this text on their website if you wish to share it with your friends and family.
"A grandfather is talking with his grandson. The grandfather says, “In life, there are two wolves inside of us which are always at battle. One is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery, and love. The other is a bad wolf which represents things like greed, hatred, and fear”. The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?” The grandfather replies, “The one you feed.”"
This podcast addresses questions and reflections about how to live a ‘better life.’ While this is not overtly Christian podcast, I find there is a great deal of applicability in this story that does shape our faith journey.
Indeed we are surrounded by the same choice that the grandson had in the parable. We are asked similar questions as we move into becoming a post-pandemic church.
Will we choose positivity, faithfulness, and ministry? Do we see what is happening in our church as something that can help us reach our community with the redemptive message of Jesus? Or are we more apt to focus only on what divides or what isolates us from them? Do we dwell on what separates us from our brothers and sisters or do we examine how we can come together and serve God because we are all in this together?
And so as you start your week I wonder, which wolf are you feeding?
And if you decide that you are have primarily feed the ‘wrong one,’ (whichever wolf that may be), then what steps can you take that can alter that conclusion?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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