The Prologue and The Promise

The Prologue and the The Promise is a 19' by 60' mural painted by Robert McCall and his wife Louise for the Horizons pavilion at EPCOT in Orlando. It was completed in March 1983. For some reason, it was removed only a few years later. The Horizons pavilion eventually was demolished in 1999.

I grew up in the eighties and spent most of my childhood with my nose in a sci-fi book, so yes, you might see why this mural appeals to me on several levels. At its best, science fiction is prophetic, forward-looking. It introduces the reader to a wide range of scientific ideas and possibilities, making them more receptive to new ideas and change. I grew up on a steady diet of this.

I admire the optimistic view of the future in this mural -- the belief that we can solve all of the human races' problems in the future.

In the 1980's, people had great expectations for the future ahead. It was a very positive and optimistic time. In 2018, it seems like hardly anyone has a positive expectation about the future of the human race.

Not all of us have given up. I refuse to stop believing. Have hope. Don't just wish, find something you can do and do it.

Here is a link to the highest resolution image I have been able to find. Take a close look at it and tell me how it makes you feel. Silly and naive? Beautiful, but depressing? Hopeful?

As long as you have life and breath, believe. Believe for those who cannot. Believe even if you have stopped believing. Believe for the sake of the dead, for love, to keep your heart beating, believe. Never give up, never despair, let no mystery confound you into the conclusion that mystery cannot be yours.

Mark Helprin