Good and Evil 

An old Cherokee is telling his grandson about a fight that is going on
inside himself, a fight between two wolves.

One wolf is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance,
self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.

The other wolf is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and
faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asks his
grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one I feed."



Balance.

The story above, which certainly did not originate with me, demonstrated the principle reasonably well. Each of the wolves have their place within the old Cherokee. But the one thing I would change in the wording there, is good and evil.

Good and evil would not be the terms I would use, as all of these things have their place within a balanced person.

Anger, when justified, is needed in a person, because there are things in this world that a Just Anger are needed against, so much so, that not feeling anger at them would be evil. Anger is that which brings us to defend ourselves, and has been placed in us by our Creators to aide us in seeking our own continuation through our path. The same goes for Envy, that helps us see when we have not done as we should have, sorrow at wrongs done, regret at things not accomplished, greed for that which it is good to have, arrogance in abilities we have come close to perfecting, self-pity to aid us in dealing with failure, guilt in wrongs we may have done, and so on. These are things, that in over-abundance, do us harm, but in proper amounts, carry us through hard times, and push us when we need, and ultimately move us along our journey through this cycle.

Good as described above can be just as out of balance, and just as Evil, in a true sense. Joy, uncalled for, can lead us to ignore that which is around us. Peace, when wrong is done, is the same. Love, Hope, Serenity, Humility, Kindness, Benevolence, Empathy, Generosity, Truth, Compassion, and Faith are all things that when improperly placed and un-naturally sustained, can cause as much harm, and Evil, as the evil wolf described in the story.

I guess I would say the key in all of it is in balance. The Etin-bane himself understood this, as he often fought the forces of Chaos, but never sought their complete destruction, and in that way, reflected the need for balance between the two.

Recognizing That which Creates, and That which Destroys is easily done. Recognizing the Now, the Present, and That which Gives Form, is not so easy. Too often we see a dualistic world, where things are either one way or another, Good or Evil. And that is our downfall. Anger is not always evil, and Joy is not always good. There is a third leg to this seat, and it is Us, Humanity.

We are the one's who make the decisions. We are who change, and move, and take pure creation and give it form, at least in emotions. We must do our function within ourselves, and keep balance between That which Creates and That which Destroys. In short, we decide what we are, and what we will be, and perpetually create what we have been.

In the same way, in this world, Balance is what keeps us all here, and makes us a credit to our ancestors and our children.  We have this nature to maintain balance already built in, should we have enough sense to follow it.

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