Pandora's Heart

In the myth of Pandora, she is given a jar (also mistranslated as a box) with all of the evils and miseries of the world trapped inside. She is told never to open the box, but her curiosity gets the better of her and she lets out all of the illnesses and evils into the world. She tries to close the lid but everything gets out. Everything, except for hope. This is perhaps meant to be a cautionary tale about not letting curiosity get the better of you, or perhaps an explanation as to why there is so much suffering in the world. But I think there is a better way to understand this story. Imagine that instead of a jar or a box, the vessel containing all of that evil and misery and pain and suffering is a heart. Pandora letting all of those evils out of the jar was seen as a very tragic thing. But for Pandora to let all of those evils out of her heart could be nothing but joyful and miraculous. Similarly, as the myth is told, it is tragic that only hope remained trapped in the jar. But it is a blessing to keep hope safe and secure in our hearts. Pandora means "All-giving" in Greek. Pandora was able to be so generous in sharing all of her gifts because she let all of the evil out of her heart and kept only hope inside instead. Every act of charity is rooted in hope - the hope that the light can hold back the darkness, that perfect love can cast out fear and hate, that good can triumph over evil. Evil and pain enter into our hearts in millions of ways every day. We can allow the darkness to fester and breed and multiply and force out hope and light and love. Or, we can open our hearts and shake out all of the hate and fear and loathing and pain and allow light and truth and hope and joy to grow and flourish instead.