As is probably obvious (from the really tiny print), this is Chief Dragging Canoe. He was Cherokee, and I'm long-ago related to him (which probably accounts for any athletic endurance prowess I could claim). You can learn more about him, purchase this drawing, and so on at a website I found here.
So I was listening to a BYU devotional recently, and the speaker mentioned a parable of a Cherokee Chief. It struck me enough that I didn't even watch the Super Bowl today and instead did some churchy reading and spent some time being more engaged with my family than I often am. It was much less chaotic than having the TV blaring (except for the kids jumping off the ottoman and chasing each other on hoppity hops) and it was nice. So here's the parable from the speech:
Some years ago I heard of a parable told by an old Cherokee chief who was trying to teach his grandson this principle (moral agency). “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight at times, and the fight is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, jealousy, and ego. The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you—and inside every other person too.”
The grandson thought about what his grandfather had said to him for a minute and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”
I feel like I fed the right wolf (and not my stomach) today.
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4 comments:
Where did you learn more about Chief Dragging Canoe? M LOVES his story, and that she's related to him. I think it's where my girls must get their stubbornness. Yeah, that's where!
I like the parable, Wolf Man!
One thing I dislike about my snazzy new template is that hyperlinked text looks no different than normal text. So, at the end of the first paragraph, run your cursor over the word "here" and you'll get a link. The guy it links to is apparently REALLY into researching Chief Dragging Canoe. I still need to read it more.
Who's Chief Dragging Canoe????? Am I adopted or is this a memory I lost during one of my five concussions? This whole time I thought I was a white guy from East Astoria working in the Bronx. I'm glad I read the parable after the Super Bowl b/c I enjoyed every minute of it. I would love to go downtown and catch the parade tomorrow, but apparently it doesn't qualify as a "sick day" from work. Who knew?
Eric-- I think Grandpa Bill's grandma was a Cherokee indian, but I'm no genealogy expert. And, I remember a while back (when you were in Honduras?) Matt was working on a school project and he did it about Chief Dragging Canoe because we're related to him. That's about all I can remember, although I don't have any concussions to thank for any mental lapses I might have. Alien abductions, maybe? :-)
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