In an Ancient Greek Myth, the Gods, seeking to punish mankind, give what appears to be a gift. A beautiful jar that contains within it all of the evils of mankind. Pandora opens the jar, although sometimes we now call it a box, and lets all of the evils out, until only hope remains. This story has often been used as a cautionary tale to warn against the dangers of curiosity or meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. But I believe that it can actually be a powerful illustration of the healing and liberating power of repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Whether invited or not, the evils of the world come to dwell in our hearts. This could be because we are curious like Pandora, or because we are angry or bored or afraid. We can have great evils enter into our hearts through no fault of our own, but because of the wicked choices of others or even just from the trauma that comes from personal tragedies that have nothing to do with how we or anyone else has exercised their agency. We do not need to keep these evils locked away tight in our hearts. We need to follow the example of Pandora and let them out. And if they are stubborn and don’t want to leave, then we need to shake and shake and shake until we get every last one of them out. And just like in the story of Pandora, we do not need to worry about hope escaping from our heart and abandoning us. The hope of Salvation that is in our Savior Jesus Christ will cling to our hearts no matter how hard we are shaken. The Lord has too many wonderful gifts to fill our hearts with. We cannot let the evils and pains and traumas take up space and crowd out all of the wonderful things our Father is waiting to give us as soon as we can make room. Let us open our hearts like Pandora’s box and let every last evil out of them, until only hope remains.
