By Ricardo Márquez
Fear contracts, paralyzes or drives a movement that can save us from danger. Hope expands, strengthens our spirit, energizes our body and nourishes our purpose in life. We live these two dynamics during our life. Which will prevail?
This reminds me of the legend of two wolves attributed to the Cherokees. A Cherokee elder was teaching his grandson about life and about the struggles we all face in our interior.
He told him, “Inside all of us, there is a constant battle between two wolves. One of the wolves is evil; he represents rage, envy, pain, greed, arrogance, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other wolf is good; he represents joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson reflected on these words for a moment and then asked: “Grandfather, which of the two wolves will win?”
The elder responded, “The one you feed.”
Just a glimpse at the news and we’re overwhelmed with frightening information about a possible third world war, earthquakes and volcanoes springing to life, contentious upcoming elections, even an asteroid heading for the earth — news that makes us afraid, contracting us emotionally.
Prophets throughout time have warned their contemporaries of looming dangers if they didn’t profoundly change the values that guided their actions.
There is so much information about international organizations sounding the alarm of what awaits humanity if drastic measures are not taken. In this sense, the pope’s encyclical “Laudato Si” is a reference for us from the perspective of faith; it’s an invitation to hope. There, we find profound reflections, challenges and invitations to take care of our common home, the earth, where all of us are interconnected and there is no individual or collective conduct that does not affect all of us.
The awareness of this reality is the beginning of collective responsibility, of the love that Jesus modeled for us. This process of raising awareness about the threatened and vulnerable reality that we all live, and what is expected of us to sustain and care for life, is the most urgent educational challenge we face in our families, schools, churches, communities and universities in our time.
Today’s prophets announce that calamities will only increase if our decisions continue to be guided by neglect and abuse of the earth and its people. Yet they also invite us to make a profound change within ourselves, a radical one that will spark external changes in our families, society and the world.
The Lord, like the prophet Hosea announces (2:14-15), speaks to us in the profound silence of our hearts, in the desert of our suffering, and from there, renews us. Fear or hope? Which of these two dimensions will prevail in your mind and heart? The one you feed.
Ricardo Márquez can be reached at marquez_muskus@yahoo.com.
