Hungry is the wolf.....

A  Cherokee Indian tells a parable describing the nature of vice and virtue. It goes like this. One evening an old Cherokee 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, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”   This is the nature of vice and virtue.  They are neither sin nor holiness, they are character traits or habits that can be formed and eventually become natural to our very nature. They are the total integration between ones will and volition and outer actions. It is the harmony and symphony between who one is in their soul to their outward behavior without even thinking about it. An excerpt from my book Arete Again: Missional Adventures in Theology and Ethics, coming soon....