There’s a story I’ve seen appear online every so often that’s attributed as a Cherokee legend:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
I was reminded of that legend as I reflected on today’s readings. In the Gospel selection from Mark, Jesus talks about how nothing that a person eats can defile a person, “since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine.”
But he continues: “From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
It seems at first there’s some tension between the Cherokee legend and Christ’s words: The Cherokee parable specifically talks about feeding one wolf fosters positive or negative traits, while Christ talks about those traits being within.
And yet, looking at today’s first reading, from Genesis, I think we see a larger illumination of what Sacred Scripture is trying to tell us today. That reading talks about the creation of humanity, and how God warns man that he is free to eat from any tree in Eden, “except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”
Of course, the fruit of that tree is not poison in a literal sense . . . but it is the font of original sin, and thus by eating it, humanity turned away from God and allowed fertile ground for evil thoughts to find a home: “unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,” and more that Christ warned about.
Thus even as Christ declared all foods clean in today’s Gospel, we also have the warning that it is possible to consume something that can turn our hearts from piety. And, I’d argue, we can foster those evil traits by “feeding” them . . . like the wolf of Cherokee legend. Only we don’t feed them with food (as Christ correctly noted), but with thoughts and deeds. Drugs or alcohol can “feed” the unsavory heart and make it easier to succumb to lust or rage. Gossiping can stoke feelings of envy, resentment, or arrogance. For some people, wallowing in social media or nonstop news is perfect to foster all manner of negative emotions. Modern society offers all kinds of methods to feed our carnal desires.
Christ is absolutely correct that many types of evil can spring from humanity’s hearts. Because of original sin, it doesn’t need outside feeding to grow on its own. There was no murder until Cain slew Abel, but that lack of precedent or inspiration didn’t stop Cain from devising it on his own. Similarly, far too often we hear on the news tales of some atrocity or another that we’ve never heard of before . . . some new depth of evil or depravity that hadn’t seemed possible before. Again, as Jesus notes, that’s entirely possible within our own hearts.
And yet, I can’t help but fear humanity’s abilities — indeed, its willingness — to “feed” the worst parts of our hearts, at the expense of our souls and our prospects for eternal salvation.
This doesn’t mean we need to cut ourselves off entirely from all parts of the world that are less than pristine and perfect. We can’t all be hermits! And even Jesus spent time with many “undesirable” aspects of humanity in an attempt to bring them to the path to God. But we shouldn’t be afraid to speak up — in a loving fashion — if we know friends or relatives are “feeding” the wrong things to their heart. And we should be aware that, if we do enjoy parts of the secular world, there may still be aspects that are contrary to what Christ taught. For example, I’m a big fan of super-hero movies, and yet I recognize even as I’m watching them there are parts portrayed — by self-identified heroes, no less – that are against what God commands. I know several sports fans who are Catholic and struggle with the unsavory aspects of their beloved sports, some even praying for those elements to be overcome.
As Jesus taught today, we don’t risk our immortal souls by what food we eat . . . and yet, to be as healthy and long-lived as possible, we must still watch what we eat. So, too, are our hearts entirely capable of leading us astray all by themselves, and yet I’d caution us to be aware about what we feed the “evil wolf” within us, lest we risk our spiritual health and the even longer life of eternity with God.
Today’s readings: Gn 2:4B-9,15-17; Ps 104:1-2A,27-28,29BC-30; Mk 7:14-23
