Noah's Arc Reactor

              Long, boring, and tedious.  These are the words the may come to from our heads when we’re in the middle building something; houses, relationships, careers, businesses, family, finance, trust, friendships, education and etc.  No one said building or creating something would be simple.  However, it also becomes critical when people say this common term…”I GIVE UP.”  It is hard when people quit in middle of something potentially great. There are many inventions in history that haven’t seen the day of light due to inventors giving up during of trials. If there’s one person that taught me the importance perseverance while building something  is…Noah.  

Noah was man who God had warned about “The Flood”. God instructed him to build the Ark and save a remnant of life. The Lord felt Noah was “righteous in his generation” Who was Noah? Noah was definitely not a young powerful man who was professional in building ships like the Titanic.  He was just an old amateur.  Matter of fact, many historians claim Noah had drinking issues. While building the Ark, he could have easily given up.  Imagine him saying “yo my dude, why am I building this thing? I’m still gonna die anyway. Besides, I’m old and drunk.”  Instead, Noah was obedient to God while building the Ark.  Instead of listening to his critics, he just followed the directions God gave to him. The biggest tool that Noah had to build the Ark was his Faith. Sometimes, when I think of Noah, I usually think of…Iron Man?

Although he’s fictional character, but Iron Man’s story is almost similar to Noah’s Ark.  . Rich businessman Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) finds himself kidnapped by a terrorist group. After being tortured by them, Tony Stark was forced to build weapons for the terrorist to use on innocent lives.  However, instead listening to the terrorist group, he decided to build an armor suit while in severe pain. Unlike the original book, the movie showed Tony building himself device called Arc (ironically) Reactor just to keep himself from a heart injury.  At the end, he manage to escape the terrorist group and did positive things with his invention.  However, this guy could’ve easily made weapons for the terrorist or taken his own life. Instead, he took a different direction that led him to great adventures. How?

Faith.  Both the Noah story and Iron Man origin shows that Faith is something man can’t see.  Faith is something makes you move from your comfort zone. Faith is something gives you that clear picture of what you want to build and the destination you want to go. It's not a dream either.  God knew Noah and his people deserve the best in life.  Even the terrorists with guns weren’t able take away the faith Tony Stark had.

Then why do we as people give up when were in the middle of building something astonishing? Taking breaks and fresh air is needed to help us get back in the game. That is perfectly normal, but don’t quit.  Your faith is the tool that you’ll need to build your future.

The Heroic Age

 Attacked (9/11, 2001), Crashed, (Wall Street Crash , 2008), and even Massacred (Tuscon Shooting, 2011).  Throughout the years, America gone through some tough times. Now we're in new decade where we are facing many uncertainties.  However, we're also in a new era where heroes are born and reborn. I call this era, "The Heroic Age."

On January 12, 2011, a month before Abraham Lincoln's birthday, President Barack Obama gave a powerful speech at the Tuscon Memorial Service days after the shooting.  Many Americans were angry, mourned, afraid, and willing to blame others. Most importantly, many felt hopeless that there was no point of carrying on.  Obama, however, chose to move into a more optimistic approach towards the situation by saying "Hopes of a Nation are here Tonight." Therefore, President Obama took the opportunity to acknowledge those who've shown courage and bravery.

First, he showed admiration to Daniel Hernandez, the intern who helped save the life of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Obama says directly to Hernandez, "You may deny it but we've decided that you are a 'Hero' because you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss and tendered to her wounds and help keep her alive." In addition, Obama acknowledges the doctors, nurses, and the men who stopped the gunman. He later defines heroism as not only to be found in the battlefield were special training is required. Instead he says, "Heroism is here in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens."

This speech reminds America that we are living in a new era.  An era where many Americans have been defeated by now learning to get back on our feet.  A time period where the darkest moments allowing us to shine.  And also an age where individuals now have sense of hope for a promising future by going back to school, volunteering, being an honorable business owner, and of course, being a great human being. Unlike last decade, people were hoping for things to get "back to normal." Now America is finally learning to overcome and still truimph. If we were able to beat The Great Depression, win World War II, Walking on the Moon, and ending the Cold War, imagine what we will say about the recession in twenty years from now.

We all have a hero in us that can be discovered despite our backgrounds, incomes, or appearance. In our society, we get confused that heroes have to wear a cape or build an armor in a cave.  A hero doesn't have to be a celebrity . A hero can also be one who has impacted your life in a positive way like a parent.  A parent loves his or her child more than they love themselves. They would literally protect their child.  These qualities define the true meaning of a hero.

In conclusion, despite the downfall we've faced throughout the years, America still has Heroes that haven't been discovered yet. This is the time for us to show our "fireworks" during this Heroic Age.


Jensen Denoyes