Between Edmonton and Calgary (Alberta, Canada) is a four lane divided stretch of asphalt that we call the QE2, (Named after Queen Elizabeth ll). On the way to Calgary about sixteen kilometers before getting to the town of Lacombe, there is a small but very visible two sided V-shaped sign posted in a field beside the highway.
For a while it read:
"KNOW JESUS, KNOW HOPE
NO JESUS, NO HOPE"
On the back side of the sign read "CHRIST CAME AND WILL COME AGAIN." (It's all in capitals on the sign… not that I wanted to emphasize it here. )
I say read, as in past tense, because this month, the landowner changed it. The new message reads…
'THERE IS NO CHRISTMAS WITHOUT CHRIST."
And on the back side,
"MERRY CHRISTMAS, JESUS CHRIST CAME FOR YOU."
The sign isn't a big billboard. I've see those around Alberta from time to time, but mostly in rural settings. So I figure a lot of drivers on the QE2 don't even know it's there. Still, it pisses me off. What right does this this landowner have to advertise that people are hopeless without his personal faith expression? I can surmise that the person responsible for the sign has a certain kind of Jesus in mind that is the "Giver of all Hope" or that defines December 25th. "No Jesus, No Hope"? He or she couldn't be more wrong.
Hope is intrinsic to the human experience. It is our ability to see beyond our current circumstances to something beyond the moment. Nothing about hope needs anything but the human being that hope dwells in.
* * *
Let's look at what the Greeks had to say about hope. I like the story about Pandora. She was the first woman. She was given a gift from Zeus: a jar but that she was told not to open. Zeus wasn't originally in favour of her existence. I would think the plethora of female gods that he shared Olympian space with were enough for him to handle. But after Prometheus brought fire to the humans (men)… Pandora was created to wreak havoc on humanity.
The jar (commonly called a box) that he gave Pandora held all the evil of the world. Pandora's curiosity eventually got the better of her. She opened her gift and out screamed its horried contents. Pandora in a panic shut the lid, and only one of the contents was trapped. Her name was "Hope". Pandora was able to hang on to "Hope".
I like that story. It's so human. It's why I like the Greek myths. It's so obvious that they were stories written by humans painting a very human picture… even among the gods that were created in the stories. I like it... because their story tells me that "Hope" is not going anywhere. "Hope" isn't restricted to a certain belief or mental assent to a set of creeds. Hope came at the beginning of humanity and stays with humanity. I am not hopeless.
Thank you Pandora, for closing the lid on that box when you did… Hope is one of the greatest treasures… especially with all the calamity out in the world.
(written December 21, 2023)
PS... I had a winter solstice party tonight...
Time: 8:27 pm
Location: the hot tub on my deck
Guests: The moon, Venus, the stars (including Cassiopeia)
Activity: sharing secrets with the moon, and thinking about my bucket list.
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