Light and Dark, White and Black

The parable of  the two wolves has many versions, and the origin is unknown.  It is believed to be attributed to the Cherokee Indians, but there is no real proof of this, however.  The lesson it teaches remains the same. One version goes like this:

A wise grandfather talks with his grandson and explains that there are two wolves inside of every one of us.  One black, and one white.  The two wolves are always at war with one another. 

The white wolf is a good wolf, full of kindness, bravery and love. The black wolf is a bad wolf, full of greed, hatred and fear.

The grandson ponders his story, then looks up at his grandfather and asks, “Grandfather, which one wins?”

The grandfather quietly replies, "The one you feed."

I love this parable.  It can be interpreted on many levels.  The fact that one is white and one is black, in and of itself, carries with it some deep meaning and symbolism.  The battle of light vs dark is an eternal battle that never ends.  The black and/or the white never dies.  There is no end because it is the process by which progression is achieved.  This is why in the story one wolf never kills the other wolf.  One can just be neglected and malnourished and the other can thrive and be healthy at the extreme.

Further digging into the significance of the color of the wolves is also interesting.  Science tells us that the reason black is black, and white is white, is due to the properties of the two colors.  White reflects all light which it encounters, and black absorbs all light that it encounters.   

Another interesting observation about light... light chases away all darkness.  Darkness cannot exist where light is, it must always lurk in shadows where the light does not touch.  It is there... lurking, and once the light dims or goes out, it is always there to take its place. (once the last stick burns out and the last ember goes cold...)  

Now to apply the parable into life, and spirituality.  How do we feed the white wolf? How do we feed the black wolf?  There is an undeniable parallel between the nature of God, and Satan the adversary here.  If you think about what God does, and what it means to be God, we see complete selflessness.  Serving and love endlessly.  Then on the contrary what is satanism...  it has many different degrees, but on the surface it is serving the self, self love,  hoarding money and riches, building your own kingdom and taking care of your own.  Isint this interesting? 

So white reflects all it receives...  it shares, it selflessly gives.

Black absorbs all it receives, does not share any and selfishly keeps.

So how do we feed the white wolf?  We need to be more like the color white.  More like God.  We need to be selfless, share what we have without cares.  Follow Christs teachings, give, love, serve.  I also believe that educating yourself is a great way to feed the white,  reading "The best books"  asking questions and seeking the answers.  Learning more about the nature of God.  Unraveling the secrets and mysteries of God in the scriptures.

Now how do we feed the black wolf?  There are lots of obvious answers here... hate, lying, stealing, cheating, fighting, breaking the commandments etc.  These ones are easy...  but anything that we do that is selfish is also feeding this black wolf.  Anytime we absorb and refuse to share what we have been given.  Wither it be our talents, excess money, food, love and affection...  anytime we withhold what we have for any reason, wither it be lack of motivation, selfishness, fear, laziness...  These are the not so obvious things we do to feed the black wolf.

what if food was time.  How many hours a day do we spend doing things to bring us closer to God vs serving ourselves and our own carnal desires and appetites?  I am as guilty as anybody else here... I have binge watched full seasons of shows on Netflix in a weekend....  when was the last time I binge-read the scriptures?  Its been a while...

I fear at times I have allowed the white wolf inside of me look close to death, like this neglected malnourished dog.

What if the battle of light vs dark really does boil down to selfishness vs selflessness?  Love and service over fear anger and hate.  It is said that God is love, and I believe that he is.  Satan in opposition to God is fear and hate.  Like darkness cant exist where there is light,  fear and hate cannot exist where there is pure love.  

We need to love ourselves.  We need to love and serve others.  We need to look for good in people, not judge, and get uncomfortable a little bit in the service of others and ultimately our God.  To be over-comfortable is selfishness...  please yourself first.  I do what I want. "I gotsta get mines"

This is not an easy task, and I know it is something I need to be better at.  Hopefully anybody who reads this gets a re-kindled fire and a desire to feed the white wolf within us and make the black one hide in the shadows.