Imagining the wondrous treasures that lay within and surrendering to her curiosity, Pandora opened the sacred box which she had sworn never to do. In doing so she released upon the world all the terrible evils of disease, misery and death. As they flew from the box, the evils stung and wounded Pandora in the face causing her to scream with pain.
Amid her screams a tiny voice was heard pleading pitifully to be let out. Crouching in the corner of the box was Hope. As she flew out her dragonfly wings brushed against Pandora’s cheeks healing her wounds for letting her go. Pandora’s nemesis was her curiosity and more than that the lure of something more than necessity; jewels and dresses to adorn herself.
The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic upon the world has been like an evil unleashed upon us. It has enforced us all to retreat, to stay safe, to stay home. The cost has been huge in the loss of human lives, in the suffering of those who contracted it, to all those called to nurse the sick and dying, to the families who are bereaved and to the impact of the lockdown on us all. Not to mention the financial crisis that will need to be borne by everyone for years to come.
There has to be a question to which we have all been called to answer. Will we pause to wonder about what part each of us has played in this; what hubris did we enact in squandering the earth’s abundance? It seems Mother Earth has spoken. Will we heed her call? Will we hear Hope pleading to be let out and will we let her fly to follow the evils?
