Dear Warrior,
The time had come, and so Zeus rose from his throne and called for Hephaestus. His favorite craftsman had been given the power to harness the elements, and to produce the most enchanting of creatures.
“What is your desire my god?” Hephaestus asked.
“For you to make a woman to rule over the earth,” Zeus commanded in his low and booming voice.
Hephaestus was hesitant for he knew that women were the most unpredictable of all the created beings.
“She will become a life bringer, and as the first mortal she will create the race of man upon earth,” Zeus continued describing his wish.
And so with reluctance the Craftsman harnessed lightning in his right hand, in his left he molded water, and then using clay from the very ground Zeus had planned to gift to her a creation. She came into form…covered in flesh….she was mortal…..she was spirit…..she was life…..for she was woman.
The other gods came to meet the newest creation, and in turn brought her gifts. Her very name meaning “the gifted one”; Pandora received beauty, charm, music, persuasion, and curiosity amongst her many bestowed talents.
As a final gift Zeus presented her with a box; that he instructed Pandora to never open for it contained the ultimate power over mankind.
Ultimately, curiosity got the better of Pandora, and one day she cracked the lid. It was then that a cloud filled the room. The blessings for mankind from the box sadly dissipated into the air like a vaporous mist, while the curses rolled like a thick soot-filled fog across the ground grabbing at at the legs of mankind…crafting themselves into something of a talon they took hold.
Regretting what she had done, Pandora slammed the lid to the box trapping only one final blessing inside. Humanity had now been exposed to evil, darkness, pain, and death all at her hand….and yet she had one remaining gift to still offer them….hope.
Is hope enough? That may be the most compelling question ever.
When you face difficult times in your life….what is it about hope that moves us forward despite our desire to simply lay down, and pull our knees into our chest.
A few months ago I began discussing the advocacy journey that we were on for our son. Slaying dragons was the analogy that I clung too or we were fighting an unknowing creature that to date was still unnamed.
I will confess I very much feel like I kicked over an entire Pandora’s box of emotions for so many who have been following this story. There was a part of me that even felt guilty about bringing you along with me on a journey ….no one should have to bear the weight of uncertainty.
Certainly when I first started to share a little about what my own family was navigating….I was brief and generalized. The details weren’t really the thing for it was bigger than specifics. I believe many parents are called to advocate for their children either academically, emotionally or physically. That process is universal, and I wanted to breath life into it for us all.
When things began to escalate and had the potential for the diminished life span for my child….I shared more and with greater detail. Obviously it helped me in some part to speak about the journey, and though the details of my story may not be exactly the same as something you have navigated or our navigating in your home…..the heart of motherhood remains the same for us and there was comfort in that sense of support. None of us want to see a child in pain no matter the specifics.
I love story telling. It’s honestly one of my favorite things, for I think its a lost art in a disconnected world. I wish for the sake of a good story that I had answers both to share with you, and certainly for my own child’s benefit something tangible to offer him….but I do not.
In my wildest dreams I never thought we’d be at this point in our search without an answer. Not unlike the work of Pandora, the box has been opened, and without question filled the room with a cloud of uncertainty and heart ache……yet some how despite it all I truly believe that hope remains.
Hope is a more painful concept than I thought it would be I must confess, but I remain thankful this New Year for my family’s many blessings…. even amidst my own sadness. My wish for the year ahead is of course that there would be the answer I so diligently fought for, but if we ultimately reach the end of all hope has to offer….then my prayer at that point would be or hope to move to a state of peace.
Sincerely,
The Keeper of the Box
Summer Smith is a speaker, writer, and motherhood blogger. She and her family are currently navigating the suburbs of Northern Virginia. As the mother to four young children, Summer maintains her sanity thanks to her sense of humor, copious amounts of coffee, and Amazon Prime. Maya Angelou once said, when reflecting on her childhood, that her mother left an impression like technicolor stars in the midnight sky. Influenced by these words, Summer blogs at her website Motherhood in Technicolor, and can also be found on her Motherhood in Technicolor Facebook page.