"Humans are like two primates fighting over a banana and wrecking the garden in the process."
$14 trillion dollars per year spent on war
Primo Levi, in his profound work The Drowned and the Saved, writes of what he called the "grey zone" within Auschwitz. At first glance, life in the prison camp might seem sharply divided into two groups: the persecuted and their oppressors. But the reality was far more complex. Levi wrote that one might expect to find some measure of solidarity among those who shared the same terrible fate, but instead, the camp was fractured by countless divisions. The enemy, he said, was not only outside but also inside, among the prisoners themselves.
Isn't it unsettling how, whether in the street, the classroom, the family the workplace, or even in the extreme setting of a prison camp, humans so often seem driven to create barriers, foster hatred, and build walls of division?
I live in Scotland, and I see constant division between Scotland and England, Glasgow and Edinburgh, Celtic and Rangers and teenagers creating gangs and fighting other teens in nearby streets.
Despite sharing the same DNA, the impulse to turn against one another runs deep. Where does this darkness come from? I believe it springs from within—greed, selfishness, and hatred—all the qualities that degrade our shared humanity. Evil is the absence of Good.
There’s a story of an American Indian elder, Achei, teaching his grandson about life’s inner struggle.
"My child," he said, "there are two wolves fighting inside you. One is driven by greed, selfishness, hatred, and deceit. He is full of bitterness and anger."
"He is compassionate, humble, and selfless, full of love and good intentions."
The boy thought for a moment, then asked, "Achei, which wolf will win the fight?"
"The one you choose to feed," Achei replied.
This ancient wisdom echoes a profound truth found in Galatians 5:22-23, where the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-discipline.
In the end, we are all capable of both good and evil, but it’s up to us to decide which forces we nurture. Let us choose to feed the better wolf—the one that reflects the love and goodness we’re all meant to carry within.
We live in a deeply broken world, but we can all play our part until God's Kingdom comes.
God bless your efforts!