St Francis of Assisi & the demon wolf.
Near St Francis of Assisi’s monastery was a wolf attacking livestock and killing people. All the villagers' attempts to kill the creature proved futile. Many amongst them were of the opinion that this vile creature was possessed by evil forces — a demon wolf.
One day they told St Francis and he went to the cave that the wolf was. People pleaded with him to not go, but he told them not to worry for he relied fully on the Lord. When he got to the leer of the beast he saw the monster slowly creeping out of it’s darkened abode, ominously making its way towards him, mouth ajar, teeth flaring.
St Francis was not afraid or phased, he spoke to the wolf gently, kindly, “Why are you hurting so many innocent people?” he asked. And then a miracle happens. The wolf became calm and tranquil and placed his head at the feet of St Francis. St Francis began petting him like a pet dog.
St Francis took the wolf to the village. When the people saw him they became terrified and started running hither and tither. The saint told them no need to worry and gestured for them to come closer. I want to show you something. Now this wolf has become a saint I told him not to bother innocent people. He asked all the villages to feed the wolf daily with bread and water.
St Francis left and went back to his sanctuary. Shortly after the wolf began attacking people again and the villagers went to complain. So he went back to the cave. When the wolf saw him he bowed his head and became meek again. St Francis asked "Why have you reverted to his bad old ways?" and then another miracle occurred, the wolf began to speak. The wolf explained how after St Francis had left everything was nice and he was nicely taken care off. But after a few days, he then noticed people starting to look at him in an angry and envious way. One day a man beat him with a stick and his wife saw and started laughing, seeing all these things made him become a bad wolf again.
Applications of this story to life.
Hypocrisy is the homage that vice offers to virtue — La Rochefoucault
The point is sometimes people become saintly externally only. They attempt to abandon demonic, animalistic, wolf-like behaviours. However, at the essence of their being, they harbour selfish and unvirtuous sentiments. These unwholesome energies find manifestations in their harsh speech and or abrasive behaviours, painting a picture to the world of their internal struggle. St Francis interacted with both the villagers and the wolf from the platform of transcendence, not seeing externals but rather understanding that both aforementioned parties are souls. He thus treated them equally, conveying to them tolerance and compassion through his words and actions.
An internal duel between animal and angelic qualities are waged daily, hourly sometimes every few seconds. When more is given more is expected. Those who have positions of power and authority and have knowledge of morality and ethical conduct are expected to conduct themselves in a righteous manner. The actions of the great are emulated by the common. As such, when people see saintly people or leaders of society acting out in debouched ways they feel justified to also give in to their lower instinctual drives. The difficulty is to change ourselves, our hearts — the manner in which we perceive our reality. We don’t need more wolves or wolves masquerading as sheep.
What the world is in dire need of is more St Francis like people who walk their talk, lead by precept. He would tell his fellow monks to go out and preach and if you have to say something then say something. Which means that our behaviour speaks louder than our words. People will appreciate you not for what you say but how you make them feel. As such, a saint treats both the butterfly and caterpillar with love, kindness & equanimity.
We are all looking for a sense of identity and love. Love is expressed through relationships and it is through loving relationships wholesome identity form. The real test of humanity is how much we love one another, brothers from different mothers are still brothers, bound by the bond of spirit. Too often the wool of hypocrisy and vice cloud of vision fogging our view of reality.
St Francis encapsulated love as he lived his philosophy. For him, it was not simply book knowledge or a theoretical construct. For he embedded a culture of unconditional love. As such, he permeated an ubiquitous surge of empathy and a high degree of emotional intelligence. Affording him the opportunity to interact with both the CEO and janitor with equanimity. Thereby slaying the wolves of his mind with humanistic qualities of integrity, forbearance and humility.
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