Hope is a thing with wings

In ancient Greece there lived two brothers, Epimetheus and Prometheus. The brothers, thinking the humans could handle the power, gave the gift of fire to them against Zeus’s wishes. So Zeus hatched a plan to exact revenge on the brothers. He created a beautiful woman and called her Pandora. First he offered Pandora to Prometheus, but Prometheus refused to accept the gift. He was aware of Zeus’s intent to take revenge on him and wasn’t falling for it. But his brother, Epimetheus fell instantly and deeply in love with Pandora and agreed to marry her.

Epimetheus and Pandora lived happily together, until one day the god Mercury came to visit the happy couple bearing a gift from Zeus. It was a magnificent bejeweled box. But the box came with a warning. Mercury cautioned the couple that the box must remain sealed forever.

Pandora was understandably curious about the contents of this beautiful box. She could not stop gazing at it and wondering what lie hidden within. One day her curiosity got the better of her. She pulled the golden cord that fastened tightly around the box and the lid flew open. To her surprise out flew dark, shadowy moth like creatures. Deceit, greed, selfishness, rage and other evils were let loose on the Earth. The evils quickly entered the souls of humans. Pandora shut closed the lid of the box in bewilderment.

But she heard something still flitting about in the closed box. It was Hope. Hope pleaded with Pandora to be let out. Unable to resist its pleas, Pandora once again opened the box and watched as hope fluttered out like a beautiful butterfly. Pandora had released the evils into the world, but she also released hope so that the humans could co-create this world with the gods.

Greek Myth

Our world is at a turning point and it is not clear which will prevail, the evils or hope. When a dragon is fatally pierced in the heart it flails about in pain and outrage creating a radius of damage before plummeting to its death. The results are inevitably bloody and horrible. Our Earth has been in the clutches of a greedy dragon who would not hesitate to continue ripping open it’s fragile skin in order to mine for more gold. The dragon persists even when faced with the demise of its own home and the future home of its children. These are the desperate acts of a dying monster.

 The evils, which have been lurking in the hearts of man since the beginning of time, have risen to the surface. The old human centric way was to ravage the Earth for any gain. As new, more sustainable ways of living on the Earth emerge, those who have cultivated power the old way, without regard for future generations, are doubling down on their destructive actions. We see the effects of the evils in the forms of extreme weather events, dying ecosystems, disrespect for women, indifference to the most vulnerable and disregard for basic human values. Even the value of truth is being questioned. It’s a challenge to remain hopeful for the future in the face of these daily assaults. It’s clear something is dying but not always easy to see that something is also being born.

 Many of us have taken the survival of this human experiment for granted but the time for coasting is over. We are now each called to live the hero’s journey. We are the midwives at the birth of this new way of living on the Earth. This is no time to be timid or complacent. The dragon is giving its all, we must respond in kind. In the meantime, in this era of increased danger, we need to create as little additional damage as possible by supporting the weakest among us. When we can’t prevent damage we need to be ready with triage.

 Pandora’s box contained evils, but it also contained hope. Without evil there would be no need for heroes. Without hope there would be nothing to sustain the heroes. Like Pandora we must release hope from the box. Sing, dance, love our friends and family, stay informed, march, vote, talk and listen to our neighbors and follow our conscience with passion. We use our unique talents to do everything we can to lift up this global community. We need everyone. It’s not clear whether or not this Earth experiment will succeed. But regardless of outcome, the hero’s journey is a beautiful, connected way to live. We are all in this together.