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You Know That Charming Little Story About the Two Wolves? It’s a Lie.
There’s an old story about two wolves that goes something like this…
An old Cherokee grandfather is telling his grandson a story. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said.”It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil — he is anger, envy, greed, arrogance,resentment, lies,and ego.” He continued, “The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The wolves are fighting to the death.
Wide-eyed, the boy asks his grandfather which wolf will win.
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Lovely little parable, right? Except, it’s a lie.
The story was first published in a 1978 book called “The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life,” by Billy Graham. Graham admitted he invented the story for a sermon some 40 years ago.
His original story was about Inuit people, not a Cherokee grandfather, but the Inuit blasted him pretty badly in the Canadian Press so he changed the story.
He chose a Cherokee grandfather for the re-telling because they wouldn’t be able to challenge him. Back in the 70’s, Native Americans were treated like war criminals and blacked out from media —…
