Noah

We all love stories;  throw into the mix action, gore, revenge emotions and some disaster elements, you'll sure have a winner. This time, Hollywood reached out  to Genesis chapters 6-9. Religious or not; believer or not we are fascinated by those stories played out in a time where everything could have been possible.

The story belongs to Noah. Hearing the name many things come to mind like; Flood, Animals, Ark, Dove , Olive branch and Rainbow. Children love the tale of Noah rescuing all those animals. We do tend to simplify it as world gone bad, time for destruction, last minute save by a stubborn guy called Noah.

However, in this action packed movie we may overlook one thing; Noah himself. Forget about the grand plan of G-d cleansing the earth from his creation (obviously the prototype did not turn out too well), building a vessel that can hold thousands and thousands of species, executing the great engineering undertaking of all times. Forget all about that and focus on the Man.

How scary it might have been for him, to uproot his family, to step out of his comfort zone, to face all those people thinking he was crazy. How lonely he might have felt, how determined he must have been to carefully plan each step of this tremendous scheme. Noah had to confront himself just as much as he did others. How many times did he question the sanity of all this? Could he count on his family at all? Would he have the strength to go through it?

How do you deal with the notion of being chosen to live and witness the destruction of others? Would that make you feel humble or superior? How do you reconcile your free will with following a Power you have never seen? It is a lot to take in on any day, just imagine on a day  when the World comes to an end.

Was Noah a happy man? I don't think so. Was he hopeful? Absolutely! Did he deliver? By judging the last 100 years or so, I am in doubt. Is it time for another Flood? The optimist in me says; no, we can still work things out.

What do you say?