Recently, Fr Vazken Movsesian, priest of the Armenian Orthodox Church in the USA, and wise guide to many followers and bloggers across five continents, reminded us of an instructive (and familiar) story.
Recently, Fr Vazken Movsesian, priest of the Armenian Orthodox Church in the USA, and wise guide to many followers and bloggers across five continents, reminded us of an instructive (and familiar) story.
It is part of the Armenian Orthodoxy Lenten Journey. You can access those daily spiritual feeds on: http://armodoxy.blogspot.co.uk/
For me, this parable applies as much to my ‘inner’ life as it does to my ‘outer’ political or ecumenical work. Mind you, I am not too sure that it could stretch enough to apply to all my legal work!
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes inside people.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, deception, false pride, superiority and ego. The other wolf is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, righteousness, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a moment and replied, “But grandfather, which one wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
* See also Lent 2013 links on Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/Lent2013
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© Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenist and EU political consultant. He also acts as a Middle East and inter-faith advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales and as Middle East consultant to ACEP (Christians in Politics) in Paris. He is an Ekklesia associate and regular contributor (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/HarryHagopian). Formerly an Executive Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee and Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches, he is now an international fellow, Sorbonne III University, Paris, consultant to the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (UK), Ecumenical consultant to the Primate of Armenian Church in UK & Ireland, and author of The Armenian Church in the Holy Land. Dr Hagopian’s own website is www.epektasis.net Follow him on Twitter here: @harryhagopian