The Wolf we feed!

One quiet evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a desperate battle that was going on inside him.

He said, "My son, it is between two wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought seriously about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied: "The one I feed!"

This ancient tale, in its simplicity and solemnity, basically sums up how we as a people and as a nation are struggling to come to terms with our place in society and in the world community.

One important but dangerous word left out of both teachings is... apathy.

When we allow others to do our thinking for us, when we allow our government to determine our fate without our suggestions or recommendations, when we sit idly by and assume things will turn out as we wish them to, we are feeding a third wolf - the most deadly kind - the one who waits patiently and silently beyond the light.

Benjamin Franklin wrote: "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of apathy that tyranny begins."

In our ignorance and apathy, in our desire for worldly comforts, we have repeatedly given tacit approval to the rise to power of tyrants, and once their powerful jaws have clamped onto the jugular of society, only a determined and resolute force can dislodge them.

Thomas Jefferson wrote: "When government becomes big enough to give everything to everyone, it is also big enough to take everything from everyone."

There's an old saying: "You can't fight city hall!" If you agree with this saying, you are feeding the hidden wolf. I prefer the old Latin phrase: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who shall keep the keepers themselves?)

Freedom is determined by those who guard their liberties with a sharp eye. Once a dictatorial regime has been destroyed, we must teach the people how to prevent a resurgence by showing them how to be masters of their fate and architects of their future, for to do less only sets the breeding ground for future tyranny. I pray that this is why we are in Iraq and not our national greed.

We must also remind ourselves that our government is not absolute and we can start by removing the splinters from our own eyes!

The wolf we feed determines not only our fate, but the fate of our nation, and possibly the fate of the world.