The one you feed

Well, as I am trying to be more consistent in posting on here, I am writing a quick note on my way to bed. (7 am meeting-every Friday morning for Institute Committee) Tloday was a busy day and I arrived home about a half hour ago. It started out busy with work. Apparently someone walked away with a very important binder of ours (only the morning class) full of paperwork we were supposed to turn in with our end-of-the-month work to our supervisor, only to find out today that we have to try to reproduce all the information that was in it and recall all that was in it. Initially I was disturbed that we couldn't find it and wondering what someone would want with what I feel is useless information to them? I thought we would just let our supervisor know what happened and we would just have to post that it was missing and that would be that. I found out this morning that we had to reproduce all of it. My schedule is already jam packed and I was beginning to feel a little stressed as to WHEN we were going to do this. I started getting angry that because of a decision someone else made, I was going to have to pay. As I was wallowing, I was reminded (John 14:26) of what I was to learn from this. Now, I know that this in NO WAY compares to some injustices I know have come upon friends and family: but I feel on a much smaller scale, the principle is the same and could be applied in any given situation where the feeling might be the same: of having to pay for someone else's decisions. I think we will/have encounter(ed) that at some time or numerous times in our lives we will be faced with how we will react in that situation: what wolf will we feed? I remember a story I heard years back about a comparison to the decision we make daily of how we will react in given situations: that there are two wolves inside each of us. It is said to be an old cherokee story.

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, resentmentInferiority, 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 minuteAnd then asked his grandfather,"Which wolf wins?"

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

I also thought of a story President Hinckley shared a few conferences back about forgiveness. (October 2005) It was a story from the Deseret News of woman who had a 20 pound turkey thrown at the windshield of her car while she was driving, as some kind of prank on the young man's part. Here is the portion of that talk. A little bit lengthy, but well worth the re-read or read for some.

"A time back, I clipped a column from the Deseret Morning News, written by Jay Evensen. With his permission, I quote from a part of it. Wrote he:
“How would you feel toward a teenager who decided to toss a 20-pound frozen turkey from a speeding car headlong into the windshield of the car you were driving? How would you feel after enduring six hours of surgery using metal plates and other hardware to piece your face together, and after learning you still face years of therapy before returning to normal—and that you ought to feel lucky you didn’t die or suffer permanent brain damage?
“And how would you feel after learning that your assailant and his buddies had the turkey in the first place because they had stolen a credit card and gone on a senseless shopping spree, just for kicks? …
“This is the kind of hideous crime that propels politicians to office on promises of getting tough on crime. It’s the kind of thing that prompts legislators to climb all over each other in a struggle to be the first to introduce a bill that would add enhanced penalties for the use of frozen fowl in the commission of a crime.
“The New York Times quoted the district attorney as saying this is the sort of crime for which victims feel no punishment is harsh enough. ‘Death doesn’t even satisfy them,’ he said.
“Which is what makes what really happened so unusual. The victim, Victoria Ruvolo, a 44-year-old former manager of a collections agency, was more interested in salvaging the life of her 19-year-old assailant, Ryan Cushing, than in exacting any sort of revenge. She pestered prosecutors for information about him, his life, how he was raised, etc. Then she insisted on offering him a plea deal. Cushing could serve six months in the county jail and be on probation for 5 years if he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.
“Had he been convicted of first-degree assault—the charge most fitting for the crime—he could have served 25 years in prison, finally thrown back into society as a middle-aged man with no skills or prospects.
“But this is only half the story. The rest of it, what happened the day this all played out in court, is the truly remarkable part.
“According to an account in the New York Post, Cushing carefully and tentatively made his way to where Ruvolo sat in the courtroom and tearfully whispered an apology. ‘I’m so sorry for what I did to you.’
“Ruvolo then stood, and the victim and her assailant embraced, weeping. She stroked his head and patted his back as he sobbed, and witnesses, including a Times reporter, heard her say, ‘It’s OK. I just want you to make your life the best it can be.’ According to accounts, hardened prosecutors, and even reporters, were choking back tears” (“Forgiveness Has Power to Change Future,” Deseret Morning News, Aug. 21, 2005, p. AA3).

Somehow forgiveness with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way.

The great Atonement was the supreme act of forgiveness. The magnitude of that Atonement is beyond our ability to completely understand. I know only that it happened, and that it was for me and for you. The suffering was so great, the agony so intense, that none of us can comprehend it when the Savior offered Himself as a ransom for the sins of all mankind.
It is through Him that we gain forgiveness. It is through Him that there comes the certain promise that all mankind will be granted the blessings of salvation, with resurrection from the dead. It is through Him and His great overarching sacrifice that we are offered the opportunity through obedience of exaltation and eternal life.
May God help us to be a little kinder, showing forth greater forbearance, to be more forgiving, more willing to walk the second mile, to reach down and lift up those who may have sinned but have brought forth the fruits of repentance, to lay aside old grudges and nurture them no more."(quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, October 2005)

Granted, I did not get a 20 pound turkey thrown at my window, or lose a loved one because someone was driving drunk, or any number of events that have transpired and will continue to transpire daily as we struggle with our humanity. But, I do feel with what happened and with all the myriad of other things that have happened to my brothers and sisters: the principle of forgiveness is the same. For this knowledge and the opportunity to be reminded of it, I am grateful.