I have long known the saying: “All stories are true. Some of them actually happened.” Listening to Megan McKenna’s presentation at Notre Dame, I heard her add something new. Something important. “All stories are true. Some of them actually happened. Now, let this one happen to you.”
Earlier this summer, in a sermon, I told this story. I don’t know if it actually happened, but I do know it is true:
On a winter evening, long ago, a Native American elder sat by the campfire with his grandson. The little boy had done something bad and been scolded by his parents. As usual, when he was confused or upset, he went to talk with his grandfather. “I know I shouldn’t have done that, Grandfather, but it just felt like something inside me made me do what was wrong.”
The grandfather nodded. “That happens. There is an inner struggle that goes on inside each person. It is like two wolves fighting each other. One wolf is a mean wolf, full of anger, jealousy, greed and arrogance. It is filled with self-pity and resentment, false pride and superiority. Its snarling mouth is filled with lies and deceit.”
The old man took a stick and poked the fire so that the sparks flew. “The other wolf,” he continued, “is a good wolf, full of joy and hope, kindness and generosity, truth and compassion. Every person has those two wolves fighting within them, every person. I have those two wolves fighting inside me … and so do you.”
The boy thought for a little while, then asked. “But Grandfather, which wolf is going to win?”
“Like any animal, the wolf that you feed will grow stronger. The wolf that you feed will win.”
Note the impact of the story. I could simply have written that every person has an inner struggle, like two wolves fighting for control. But the narrative, the details of the boy and his grandfather, the campfire and the sparks, allow the story to “happen,” to touch our imagination, to move beyond our intellect into our souls.
Feed your soul with good stories.
--Bill
