A Cherokee elder sitting with his grandchildren told them, “In every life there is a terrible fight—a fight between two wolves. One is evil: he is fear, anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, and deceit. The other is good: joy, serenity, humility, confidence, generosity, truth, gentleness, and compassion.” A child asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?” The elder looked him in the eye. “The one you feed.” (via Daily Dig)
When I read the story above, I immediately thought of Peter Kreeft’s book, Back to Virtue. In it, he explores the idea that the Beatitudes are the antidote to the Seven Deadly Sins:
-
Pride vs. Poverty of spirit (humility)
-
Avarice (greed) vs. Mercy
-
Envy vs. Mourning
-
Wrath (anger) vs. Meekness and peacemaking
-
Sloth vs. Hunger and thrust for righteousness
-
Lust vs. Purity of heart
-
Gluttony vs. Bearing persecution
And then I thought of that one line in the Lord’s Prayer:
Give us this day our daily bread.
Makes one wonder, which wolf am I feeding? And maybe more importantly, how?