To the Editor:

If you watch or read the news or absorb any form of entertainment be it novels, movies, plays, games, etc., it all carries one theme, “Good versus evil.”

Everything hinges on dastardly deeds and heroic responses.

In writing about my precious animals and a few other things, I too am guilty, for it is only human nature.  I will grant that what is good and what is evil is often open to interpretation.  Be that as it may, I would like to tell you of something I read a long time ago, that moved me deeply. You may take from it what you will, I only pray that it will affect you in the same way it did me.

One evening a Cherokee elder 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 Good: It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

“The other is Evil: It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, inferiority, false pride, superiority and ego.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The elder simply replied, “The one you feed.”

— Leonard Rizzo