What a week! By Thursday I was so aggravated by such little things that I was miserable. And I know I was making others feel miserable, too. Late Thu night & early Fri morning I spent a lot of time praying, asking forgiveness, staying close to my Father. It helped a lot. And it helped to stop watching all TV reports on the week's events.

My heart aches for the losses so many families are dealing with right now. And the public needs to know about what's going on. But 24-hour cable news has changed our reception and perception of the human condition. Most of what we hear is bad. Is it any wonder that people are depressed, ill (read ornery) and medicated ?!?

The truth is that lots of very good things go on in our world. But our atavistic side wants to feed on the darker side of things. (OK. I just got up, turned the TV off and turned on my iTunes Praise & Worship playlist.) Christians should never let their darker side have the upper hand. In fact, that darker side was crucified on a cross 2,000 years ago. I insult my Savior when I act like the old person I was before He saved me. We're children of the Living Lord and His Spirit abides in us. It's not who I am, but whose I am. His Light should always shine out of me. Cathy's story about which wolf we feed speaks to this issue. Here it is:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

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

"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
The illustration worked perfectly with our SS lesson last week about displaying a new identity, taken from 1 Peter 2:1-12. (Thank you, Cathy.)

So, I commit to feeding the good things by staying in the Word, by talking frequently with my Father, by remembering the enormous, unspeakable sacrifice Jesus Christ made to free me from the bondage of sin, to look for the good in others, to remember whose I am.