What Does the LORD Require of Us.

I love Native American fables and stories. They often carry the wisdom of a parable of Christ. So much wisdom is expressed in each of them. Rev. Joy Carroll Wallis, in her address to the graduates at commencement at Goshen College, used a Cherokee story to describe choices. It goes as follows:

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 is Evil. It is anger, fear, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other one is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandson thought about this for few minutes and then he looked up at his
grandfather and asked; “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied,
“The one you feed. The one you feed.”

We often think the real battle is going on in the world around us and that we can become insulted from this terrible world. However, the old Cherokee described the battle within us. When have we fed envy, pride, superiority, and ego and forgotten all about love, hope, serenity, kindness, humility, peace, and generosity.

It is important to remember about many religious leaders in our country today is that they often feed the wolf of greed, arrogance, resentment, superiority, and ego. These leaders have
forgotten that Jesus taught, joy, peach, love, hope, humility, benevolence, generosity, truth,
compassion, and faith. We must feed the good wolf and not submit to the evil wolf.

God has shown us what He expects of us in
Micah 6:8.

And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your
God.

Do we do what the LORD requires?


Rev. Joy Carroll Wallis is the wife of Jim Willis founder of Sojourner and author of God’s Politics.
Goshen College is located in Goshen, Indiana. It was Established in 1894 and owned by the Mennonite Church.