Weekly Newsletter: Big Bad Wolves, Part 1

​The Fairy Tale, Little Red Riding Hood, is a story — not about a wolf in sheep’s clothing — but a story about a wolf in grandma’s bed posing as the good guy, or in this case, the good grandmother. Grandmother was kind and loving to Red Riding Hood. Granny even made the red cloak and red hood the little girl wore. Red trusted her grandmother, but was suspicious when she was approached on her journey by a big wolf.
 
The majority of the religious leaders I’ve met were good men with good intentions. I’ve rarely, if ever, met one I would classify as wicked as the big bad wolf. But, there are those whose intentions are self-serving and eventually turn dark. They are wolves dressed in religious attire who seduce us with their words and pretend to be something they are not. How do we identify those who would do us harm and not good?
 
Little Red Riding Hood missed all the warning signs. She didn’t pay attention to her inner voice that tried to warn her. When the wolf spoke, dressed as granny, she noticed the gruff voice, but explained it away as granny’s illness. She noticed the big arms, the big legs, the big ears, the big eyes, and finally, the big teeth. She should have known, but she failed to see what was before her eyes. Ignoring her intuition and her questions and doubts, cost Little Red her life.