There is a familiar Native American story called “The Two Wolves.” One version 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 wolf is “Evil.” It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, and superiority. The other wolf is “Good.” It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, faith…and contentment.”The grandson was amazed at this. You could see it in his face. You could also see that he was puzzling over what he had just been told. Finally, he could no longer restrain himself, so he asked, “Which wolf wins?”The old Cherokee grandfather smiled slightly and softly replied, “The one you feed.”
The story reminds us that we all make choices in our life. And the consequences of those choices can sometimes spell the difference between joy and peace and sorrow and regret.
The season of Lent is also about making choices. Lent is an invitation. It is a call to reflect, refocus, refresh, and renew. It invites us to slow down and pause in the midst of life and to look within at the war that often is going on deep within us, or maybe not so deep within. We all carry wounds and scars from this battle. For some of us it seems like it is an eternal struggle with no way out. We have tried to calm the beast that rages within and also to fight against the ones that attack us from without, but we never quite seem to get the upper hand. This is even true for those of us who claim to follow Jesus, the Prince of peace.
When I look at my own life, I find that “evil” usually gets the upper hand because I forget to feed my soul. Instead, I fall into the habit of feeding my fears, my distrust, my anger, my resentment, my insecurity, my …. I feed them through allowing myself to see things as urgent, as normal or usual, as acceptable, as reasonable or as all that there is.
Grace alone can bring about a lasting change in our lives, a transformation of our deepest self. Grace alone can help us to push back against the darkness. Without grace – simply relying on our power alone -- we cannot be faithful to the divine calling and direction God has in mind for us from the beginning. What we need to do is create space for grace. And to do that means feeding those things that help create that space and make the gift of grace a reality in our lives. Only then can we come to know the serenity, the peace, the contentment that Jesus promises.
Someone has written: “If everyone is running around wringing their hands and crying, and you are cool, calm, and collected, you don’t understand the situation.” To live with serenity/contentment does not necessarily mean that outward conditions have changed. Serenity is an inner peace that is present even in difficult surroundings. It is a deep, inner sense that all will ultimately be well. The experience goes beyond our systems of emotional or rational intelligence. It is an intuitive or spiritual knowing that produces in us the inner experience of calmness, clarity, and awareness. In serenity, we learn to live more fully in the now moment rather than being bound to the past or living anxiously in the future. And because God is present in the now, God is present with us in the now, and no matter what we face, God will be there with us.
But as the story above reminds us, this awareness, this reality, this settled and settling conviction doesn’t just happen, it requires a response, a choice, a decision, an effort on our part. “The one you feed.” We can feed our fears and illusions or resentment or anger or self-pity, and they can continue to dominate our lives and overwhelm us with a hopelessness that can paralyze us; OR we can feed or cultivate that relationship with the God of peace who wants to give us LIFE and help us see our daily lives in a new and liberating light.
So if you have made the decision to feed your soul this Lent, here are some things to focus on: Slow Down – just as it is hard to enjoy a meal on the run, you need to allow time for rest and meditation; Reflect -- on where you are in life and what God, through Scripture, has to say about where you can and should be; Practice – the disciplines of prayer, silence, Bible Reading, worship and service; Don’t Give Up – nothing worth achieving comes easily and without effort; Live Thankfully – realize that each day, each breath, each opportunity is a gift God is giving you to grow in personhood and fullness; and Remember Grace – the God who invites you into relationship with himself also provides the resources to grow in that relationship. When we fall or fail, God is still there, ready to forgive and restore. While Grace is free, it is not cheap; it requires our surrender and willingness to receive it and live in it. Grace is the good news that, in Christ, I am more loved than I ever thought possible and that there is nothing in this life that I will ever have to face that God will not be there to face it with me.
