I love Newark, New Ark.

(Main Street, Newark 1907)

There are many places in America with names that start with the word ‘new’ – New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, New England, and New Orleans, among many others. Earlier this week, I was actually wondering why there were so many places that started with ‘new’.

I realized that as the forefathers of this land were naming these cities and states, they were probably picturing in their minds a better tomorrow. Because they had had a difficult past, they, as immigrants, were hoping for a better future in this new land.

When I first started K&L Cleaners twenty years ago, my father said this to me:

“This is Newark, and truly, it is a New Ark. It is a New Ark that God has prepared for you. All of your work from now on will go well.”

I thanked my father for his words and I knew how much he loved me, but I didn’t believe him.

If the fate of people really did depend on the name of where they lived, then people in LA would have to become angels and the amount of “brotherly love” in Philadelphia would have to overflow. But the thought of having a smooth life in a “new ark” just because I work in Newark seems impossible to me.

However, I love Newark, and I actually do believe it is a New Ark.

The word ‘ark’ is usually associated with Noah’s Ark, and Noah’s Ark is believed to be an image of salvation. But I have a different thought – a thought of the untold story after the Great Flood. Noah and his family were left with not even a blade of grass after the flood, as everything had been washed away. And with this land of no hope, they must have faced many new challenges.

Newark is a place of many challenges.

Everyday, I may encounter much difficulty, pain, or exhaustion, but because of this, I am faced with new challenges and filled with new hopes here in this New Ark.

And that is why I love Newark.

Our lives are sometimes faced with unusual situations. And it is in these situations that we find new challenges.

Whether you live in Newark or work in Newark, I hope that throughout this year, everyday will be a New Ark for you.

Here is a short poem I’d like to share with you this week.

Alchemy

Sara Teasdale

 I lift my heart as spring lifts up

A yellow daisy to the rain;

My heart will be a lovely cup

Altho’ it holds but pain.

  

For I shall learn from flower and leaf

That color every drop they hold,

To change the lifeless wine of grief

To living gold.