Rodney Cook-Believer-Columbus, OH

Rodney Cook is one of the most unique individuals I know. His background is mostly ordinary, except for the fact that he is an African-American descendant of Thomas Jefferson. His day job is not extraordinary .He has been in the car business for almost 20 years and is also very informed about health and nutrition. Rodney refuses to eat foods that have been microwaved, even if it means skipping a meal. His American Dream is to finish a Contemporary Christian Gospel album. He is passionate about God’s love and wants to spread that message around the world. He seems like an average guy, until you start to talk to him.
Rodney recently shared an amazing dream that woke him one night and compelled him to take notes and draw pictures.

Not all dreams are created equal. On rare occasions I encounter a dream that seems more real than a long day of being awake. Almost as if you've entered another dimension or been swept away to another universe very much alive and so full of details that when you awake you feel it had to have been real and has a higher purpose.
One such dream I had close to a year ago was an entire developmental process of an elaborate system designed to protect the Palm Islands in Dubai from a Tsunami. In my dream I came up with a way to potentially protect heavily populated areas from the full impact of an incoming Tsunami by designing an intricate sub-system of sea floor plates that are designed to reverberate with massive coils to dissipate the waves. The sea floor plates would be designed also to essentially be activated at the appropriate time to basically break up the wave energy by disturbing it. Additionally a series of electronically controlled sea steps that rise and fall to further diffuse wave energy would be placed closer to the shore areas. To further enhance protection an electronically controlled Sea Wall shaped with reversed V points and U wells to divert wave energy could be activated to raise up and protect against wave blast. Finally an electronically controlled giant "Dome System" could be activated to shield vitally important structures (such as Shelters and Medical facilities etc...)and prevent water damage by it being designed to go from bottom to top (raising from underground) essentially deflecting water damage. In my dream I met with influential people and tried to explain that I'm not a scientist but it just kinda came to me in a dream and I thought it was something that could potentially save lives and wanted to at least say I tried to help. Word got out and the dream started to take on a life of it's own and I was all of the sudden in the middle of brainstorming with great minds and powerful wealthy people to bring it all to life. Next it was thought the systems could work for other areas as well. It's all a bit fading in the intricate details now with so much time passing but I do remember the intense feelings and urgency of lives being at stake and when I woke up from that dream it seemed all too real.
It makes you wonder a bit and stop and think about the possibilities. In the Bible there is mention that if any man lacks wisdom, ask the Lord for it and it will be given to you freely. Maybe we receive wisdom in these sorts of dreams.

Visionary dreaming is in a league of it's own. Mind altering and breathtaking. If your imagination is a preview of life’s coming attractions ; then wow, the future looks exciting.
I think if you’re an eccentric, or that nature, I think it just puts you in a situation that you obviously must have something, some sort of gift to share, and it’s just a matter of how you decide to carry out that gift and what you decide to do with it. If it goes outward, it can definitely be a benefit to a lot of people. If it goes inward and you keep it all to yourself, people might just write you off as just plain weird.
But I think that it’s always fascinating whenever you do run into a situation with people once you realize that you have a certain gift or talent. It’s…it opens up a whole new realm of relationships, I guess you could say. Because once people discover that about you, you can see the relationship change.
If I had to describe myself, I would say 'fun’ because I would say most people that know me… I think they have fun!
Rodney’s demeanor is always so upbeat and even-keeled that it is nearly impossible to know when he is joking. Last year in 2009, when the stock market was in a downward spiral, he would keep track of a certain stock that he knew his co-worker, Big Lou, was following. He would often chat about the stock to Lou.
One day, just for fun, Rodney called Big Lou on speaker phone, and told him that the stock had fallen to pennies per share. Big Lou immediately hung up the phone and frantically got online to see the damage for himself. Those of us in the room laughed hysterically and enjoyed using the doom and gloom of Wall Street to have a little fun.
Another time, Rodney took advantage of an absolutely spectacular sunset. A summer thunderstorm was brewing and it looked like the sky was on fire. Rodney began gathering folks and recording a verbal and video “final report” on his phone. He reported that a piece of the sun had fallen off and landed in Indianapolis and was blazing towards Columbus. He calls this report ‘the Sky was Falling.’
‘The Sky was Falling’ was an amazing one. I mean that one there, the way the sun was setting, it did really bring some folks to their knees, it was almost scary because it looked so real. And once I got the ball rolling in that direction and got people thinking…you could see the fear in people’s [Outburst of laughter] eyes! And it…I felt sorry for Big Lou, cuz I thought, I realized, I finally thought we’d better tell him because he might have a heart attack! He was calling people, and getting ready to kiss it goodbye!
His optimism is rooted in a close family upbringing, his Grandfather refers to all the kids as ‘heroes’, and has a wall covered in pictures and mementos; like a page out of a scrapbook. Rodney also exudes a deeply strong faith.
I would say the best decision I ever made was turning my life over to Jesus Christ. I would say that’s the best decision I ever made.
I think a lot of times people get in situations, and they sacrifice, they compromise their belief system, and trip themselves up and get themselves into trouble, whether it be financially, spiritually, criminally. Just get themselves into all kinds of trouble by getting frustrated. I think a lot of times they’ve just given up on themselves and that American Dream that we’re talking about, and it just opens up Pandora’s Box for people to just really get themselves going backwards. So I think you have to find a way to hold onto your dreams, keep believing and it kind of keeps you going.
I think that frustration can boil within people; a lot of people just break under that type of pressure… If they’re not able to hold fast to a belief system, you can definitely turn the American Dream into the American Nightmare. Yeah, I can see how that can happen for a lot of folks.
Sometimes I feel I’m different from most people because, you know, I think a lot of times most people aren’t very expressive of their feelings, their morals, their values, and a lot of things in life, and I think that outward expression that people are able to show the rest of the world, that does make people different. I think it makes them stand out. It can definitely lead you down a different path than the average person.
Most people get to this age and they shelve their dreams, or they think that it’s impossible, or they think that it’s probably not meant to be. But sometimes in life, you know, it’s God’s time and not really your time. So I think that, you know, a lot of people do end up giving up on their dreams.
You just never know when, you know, your number’s called, so to speak, for that talent or gift to rise to whatever level God has in His mind that, in his plans, He’s going to take you to. It might not even be fathomable in your own mind, but it’s real. Take for example, Angelo (a co-worker.) A lot of people probably have no idea that he is a very gifted writer. I’ve read some of his manuscripts and I was blown away. I was like ‘Why are you here?’ [Laughs]
So you just never know and that’s the whole thing. When I say the American Dream, I haven’t given up on mine… I would say that’s probably the most interesting thing about me. My day is coming and I haven’t given up on that part of my American Dream. That, to me, that’s the exclamation mark on most people’s lives. And for me, it’s not really about the money. It’s not about fortune. It’s not about fame. It’s about something I like to do, love to do, and there’s a message in it for the rest of the world. For me, that’s how my story ends.