We all know the tale of Pandora's box. This tale has Pandora, a young beautiful woman endowed with lots of wonderful characteristics, being given a box by Zeus before she marries Epimetheus. Pandora, instructed by Zeus, is told not to open the box. No matter what Pandora is not to crack the lid on the box. As this becomes more of a problem what with being female, her curiosity gets the better of her and one day she decides to take a peek.
Inside the box are all the worlds evils.
Lying, slander, vanity, greed, pinning and envy.
When Pandora opens the box all these evils escape.
Myths take on proportions of their own and the evils of the world and their base cause were thus thrust upon womankind. Pandora would represent the negative side of femininity and always be associated with the release of the worlds ills. Curiosity killed the world, not just the cat.
Unfortunately, Pandora's quick action with the box is hardly mentioned. Granted some evil escaped but a very valuable asset was contained in the box for humanity.
The asset is.......?
Hope
Because the evils of the world filled humanity with despair Pandora revisits the box and allows Hope to join the others.
One should wonder why Hope was considered an evil but the Greeks thought that hope was the vilest of all. The reason it was considered more vile than the other evils, they thought, was that it prolonged man's agony.
"Three Cups of Tea" is a book written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, it chronicles the odyssey of mountain climbing Greg to educator Greg to denier of terrorism and builder of nations Greg. He brings hope to Afghan children that can now go to school because of his plea to educate rather than go to war. He raises money, one penny at a time, to build schools and promote peace.
He succeeds where others fail. Rather then tell you about the book, find it and read it.
Hope is an asset and Greg is just one small example of hope prevailing.
Two women, one a writer and the other a poet wrote short quotes about hope.
"Hope" is the thing with feathers-- That perches in the soul-- And sings the tune without the words-- And never stops--at all-- Emily Dickenson
The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. -- Barbara Kingsolver
The world's evils can be contained when we continue spread hope. Please do your part.
