One last fry

Today, I want to talk about hope.  The concept of hope is one of those things that brings up the story of Pandora's Box.  I will tell you the story, as I think that few people actually understand that story and what it represents. 

There is a version of the Greek myth of Pandora where she has a box or container that holds all of the world's evils.  Through a series of events the box is opened and all of the evils in the world come out, except one thing - knowledge of our own future.  (This is often incorrectly translated as 'hope' remaining in the box- which makes no sense if you think about it!)  If it were hope left in the box, it would infer that hope was one of the evils in the world and that it isn't in the world.  Neither would seem to be true.  What the original intention of the myth was that perfect knowledge of the future is an evil and since it wasn't let out of the box, humans can still hope. 

Anyway, I really love the myth of Pandora's box because to me it seems a myth about what it is to be human.  It says, pretty unashamedly, that life could be worse, much worse in some instances.  It says that while that is true, you can at least hope for a better tomorrow, hope for things to turn out the way you want. 

I have my own little reminder of hope that is similar to Pandora's box- the french fry box.  Except, in my box, I am not looking to see what was left inside, what I am looking for is that one escapee from the box, the one that got away.  Even when I know there is no fry at the bottom of the bag, I look anyway - See?  There is HOPE. 

In some ways, it seems we are all searching for that last fry in the bag- the hidden one that we don't really expect to find but hope against hope that it is there.  Here is hoping that your next fry encounter gives you an unexpected and hoped-for surprise.