An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride, and superiority. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too. The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, Which wolf will win? The old Cherokee simply replied: The one I feed.
This evening (September 12th) on Bill Moyer's Journal, Mr. Moyers made reference to this apparently well known (but not to me) story. It made me think of the many postings I have read on ActiveRain as well as the "talk radio" I frequent, most of which I am in disagreement with, indeed, often disgusted with. I think of what I hear from those who profess to be Christian but who spiel venom on a daily basis (I'm thinking of Limbaugh and Hannity) against the Democrats. And I conclude that it may be impossible for us to ever come together again. I like that Obama talks about the electorate as not being "red" or "blue" but Americans all. I think that John McCain feels the same although maybe does not express it as explicitly. We are truly fortunate that we have two candidates who are inspirational and each of whom will lead us well when the opportunity comes.
I am also reminded of our Realtor Code of Ethics and think how well this folk wisdom applies to us in our every day lives and activities. It seems to me to be a corollary of the "golden rule". In our individual hearts, we need to know which wolf we are feeding.
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