Prepping for the holidays is always fun. It’s even better when you see a beautifully wrapped present sitting there with your name on it.
You pick it up to see how much it weighs. You give it a little shake to see if it rattles. You might even loosen the tape on one side to peek inside, then quickly tape it back up so no one notices.
Of course, I’m sure you wouldn’t do something like that. But it is possible.
Just thinking about it reminded me of Pandora’s Box. According to philosopher and author Tom Morris, this Greek myth was incorrectly translated along the way.
Here’s the version I remember. Pandora was given a gift by the Greek gods. It was a beautiful box. She was told to never, ever open it because it was filled with terrible things.
But Pandora was incredibly curious. She couldn’t stand not knowing what was inside, so she opened it. And just like that, she unleashed greed, envy, hatred, disease, and more awful things into the world.
Pandora shut the lid as quickly as possible, but it was too late. End of story.
But wait. There’s more.
According to the original story, Pandora is not only curious, but she also has the quality of courage. She looks back in the box one more time and sees one thing stuck on the bottom.
Hope is the last thing in the jar—the one item that would help her handle everything else.
When Tom shared that version with me, I felt optimistic. Yes, we face many challenges in today’s world, and we can complain all we want or blame others for what’s happening.
But if we have hope, we can recognize our shared values and commonalities, figure out ways to work together, and discover what really is possible—because so much more is.
So please accept my gift of HOPE this holiday season.