Darkness & Light: The Philosophical Path of an Eclectic Pagan

Letter V: Wolves and Sheep

 My friends, I cannot stress to you enough the importance of acceptance and love. This is not to mean that we must accept evil, but that we must not decline nor deny the opportunity to accept good, even if it appears to be evil. This is why our mind and our soul needs to have clear vision and discernment as to what is truly good and what is truly evil.

Often evil will disguise itself as good, as we often use the expression of a wolf in sheep's clothing. But often times, evil will also do its best to cover the good of another, which, as we would call it, a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Why do sheep pretend to put on wolf's clothing? Mainly because wolves are the predator; they are the hunter, not the hunted. They do not fear or worry of being attacked or eaten. Even some love the power they feel of being the wolf, knowing that they can attack at will with no one to attack them. It is often an emotional comfort to those to pretend to be a wolf instead of a sheep, but in all of our hearts and our souls, we were born sheep. Not like sheep who blindly obey and herd like cattle, but we were all born with gentle spirits. It is only along the rough and tumble road that we call life do we develop wolf's clothing and harden our hearts.

But how often do we accept the wolf in sheep's clothing and reject the sheep in wolf's clothing? We pass the apparent "evil", which is the real good, for something that is truly evil. How many women and men have passed up plenty of opportunities to form a relationship with a genuine person who may not be as attractive as others for another who is attractive, but becomes abusive, drug-addict, alcoholic, or just an apathetic heart breaker?

True happiness in relationships have come from a deep friendship that is not build on just what is seen from the outside, but based on the good that has been revealed over time. The person has taken the time to see past the wolf-like outer clothing and seen the gentle, sheep spirit that resides within. This starts with acceptance.

As I write to you about this, my friends, I must be forthright. I have suffered greatly from the lack of acceptance in my life. Without knowing or trying to, I must've built an outer shell that appears more like a wolf than a sheep, and for that, I have been rejected beyond several times. Even when the sheep aspect of me comes though, I am often rejected for being too gentle and too sheep-like. There has yet to be one, to this point, that has truly seen me for who I am and accepted every part of it, regardless of whether they agree with me or not.

The greatest mystery to me is that I do not pose any danger or threat. I am simply a man who is seeking love and understanding in life. I am but a man who likes to dive into the deeper aspects of life and revel in wondrous beauty. I am a dreamer, and dreamers pose no threat other than themselves, but even so, my sorrow has not been casted by my own hand. My deep-seeded internal sorrows stem from knowing that I have never been unconditionally loved and accepted by one who seeks the same things as me.

Many religions speak of unconditional love, but I believe they fail to realize and execute that love in their doctrines. Christianity speaks that one must be loyal to God and to the church over their own family. In the Quran, there is permission to dismiss your own family member if they cease to believe in Allah and the prophet Mohammad. In Judaism, one must hold fast to the teachings of the Torah or be threatened to be "unclean" and fit to worship in the temple. Yet, as the central focus of these religions are based on the idea of "what you to do to other people, you do to God / serve God".

This I feel is a conundrum in the main religious circles: how to accept, yet condemn people at the same time? How do we have the power to condemn and reject people, but yet call to love them still? Surely people cannot do both?