The Fallacy of the Wolf
...and the absolute of the Devil
“You would seem so frail
In the cold of the night
When the armies of emotion
Go out to fight
But while the earth sinks to its grave
You sail to the sky
On the crest of a wave”
Nick Drake - Cello Song
186 days, a little over a half a year, since one thousand, five hundred Hamas terrorists poured into Israel by land, sea and paragliders, killing one thousand, two hundred people in the most gruesome and wicked of ways, taking with them more than 250 hostages, some brutally injured. Last November 26th, 112 were returned alive to Israel, 105 of them released in a prisoner exchange, another four released by Hamas unilaterally and three rescued by the IDF. There are 34 confirmed dead hostages, and approximately 96 hostages still alive.
A few days ago I caught this animal welfare story:
On February 29th, 42 year old hunter Cody Roberts, of Daniel, Wyoming, ran an injured wolf down on a snowmobile, grabbed the hurting animal, taped it’s muzzle shut, drove it to the Green River Bar in Daniel, where he paraded the injured wolf around, taunting it, taking selfies with a beer in his hand, as onlookers laughed and jeered with him. He then dragged the animal out back and shot it.
My mind went back to October 7th and a vivid, gruesome image of celebration:
On October 7th, 2023, Shani Louk, German tatoo artist and Re’im Supernova Music Festival attendee was shown to the world in a video, her desecrated almost completely naked body, thrown into the back of a pickup truck, by Hamas terrorists, parading as they drove through crowds, exclaiming “Allahu Akbar.” Just as in the Green River Bar, you could see the cheers/jeers of the people surrounding the vehicle, some spitting on the her body.
Most all who were killed and/or kidnapped were pacifists. Peacemakers.
Recently, the Associated Press (AP) won a prestigious award for a picture of the above scene. Shani Louk’s father stated he wasn’t upset. He likened the image to one of the most important in history to tell the story of what happened on October 7th 2023.
The wolf, given as an example, by Jesus, in The Sermon of the Mount, to warn against false prophets, was meant as an analogy of what “people do to other people.” The difference is, the wolf, like all other animals is incapable of reasoning, but rather motivated by instincts (i.e., hunger, fear, protection).
Human’s are far more intricately wired to acts of pure evil. Humans think about certain things and are motivated by their instincts, intellect and logic.
The wolf is often described as independent and lonesome. Wolves are actually very dependent on their pack, with a strong social structure and are rarely alone. The untamed wolf symbolizes an intriguing mix of power, loyalty, guardianship, teamwork. Wolves are extremely intuitive and have an almost supernatural instinct that can detect dangerous situations.
Years after rescuing Big Jim, a little visitor announced “Excuse me, do you know you have a wolf in your backyard?”
We have often remembered Big Jim this way because, little did she know, the first seasoned vet who saw him told us he looked “at least quarter wolf.” It was his face, tail, and demeanor. His calm. loyal and royal good looks. He had the eyes of the injured wolf. So beautiful, inherently wild, yet fearless in his love for us. He was one of us.
Human beings are wired with similar attributes such as loyalty, guardianship and teamwork. Humans are often creative, wild at heart and independent. Like Shani Louk. Or many of us here on Substack. Writers, poets and creators.
When human beings take joy in torture and killing they are void of both the Divine Spirit and the Human Spirit.
“God is Spirit [the divine Spirit] and those who worship Him must worship in spirit [the human spirit].” - John 4:24
The Divine Spirit and the Human Spirit are explained here.
When I heard the story of the tortured wolf, I thought of the girl in the truck on October 7th.
In the wolf’s case there has been furor, with very little support toward the perpetrator, Cody Roberts. Many online petitioners are requiring justice for such a disgusting crime.
In Shani Louk’s case, as in October 7th itself, it has been justified by many.
At the beginning of last December, I published “The Wild Loving.. of a dog.” It was a weak grappling at writing about October 7th. Compared to past hostage situations in the world this one came shrouded with leadership teeter-tottering on the playground of chaos and continued division. It has become another dark muzzling of truth. Don’t speak about it, you might offend someone who blames the animal for his own murder.
It had been nearly two months of captivity for the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7th, 2023 and I could not stop praying or thinking about them, what they must be going through. I prayed for all suffering to cease. I saw this young hostage who had a dog with her so I wrote about it.
There are more than 110 armed conflicts monitored in the world. This is a breakdown of the top 10 major conflicts to watch. Most all armed conflicts are fueled by politics and/or religion, territory issues.
In church last Sunday, our pastor retrieved information on “Christian persecution” around the world, “in 2024” from World Watch Data. 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination. 5,898 Christians have been killed. 5,110 churches and other Christian buildings have been attacked and 4,765 believers have been detained, without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned, all in the last four months.
I recently read a confirmed report that the Uyghurs, held captive in China’s forced labor camps, for their ethnic backgrounds and spiritual beliefs, have been in forced labor/slavery in China’s cotton fields for the last four years. We do mass amounts of business with a country who’s Communist practices are an understatement.
Here’s another war we should battle: There is one slave to every 150 people in the world since 2021 and it is growing.
We are fed a small picture. We see and hear very little in comparison to the entire world picture. The image of Shani Louk represents what is happening to women all over the world, especially in Africa, yet attention to their plight has been deeply dismissed for hundreds of years, even by bureaucracies laid out to protect them. Whose rights are we really fighting for?
The disconnect is not recognizing the overall evil of this world.
There has been a 337% rise in antisemitism since October 7th, as if The Holocaust taught nothing. Hatred towards Jewish people is a learned subject in neighboring nations, here in America and other countries. Here’s an interesting article and there are many more at The Free Press.
It’s easy to see this as spiritual warfare as more and more people casually walk away from the spirit that holds us together.
It is written in the End Book. Over the course of history, many believed they were, in fact, living in end times. They probably were. We probably are.
The fallacy of the wolf can never be measured against the absolute of the Devil.
You feel so deeply and think so broadly that the journey we take with you leaves us more than what we were before. Much gratitude and God Bless 🙏💥🙏
This was a fantasic and complex piece that you can spend a lot of time on, reading and re-reading. I was drawn to it by the mention of the wolf. Our family raised wolves for generations. I disagree that they don't have reasoning powers similar to humans. Like humans you do find the occasional solitary wolf, though most--like people--need or prefer being in the company of their own. I particularly like the wolf parents leaving their cubs with an uncle while they hunt.