The Thames -- Sacred River?

 I slow down crossing bridges over rivers these days and look longingly at their frozen surfaces. This has been a long, cold Winter and local rivers are encased in ice, even in sections which often open. We have gone for a first paddle in March in a number of years but it might not be possible in 2019. Perhaps this is why I've been thinking about sacred rivers these days, those recognized as holy and God-blessed, in some instances for millennia. The Jordan comes to mind, as do the Ganges in India, the Nile in Egypt, and the Yangtze in China. The Mississippi is a sacred river for First Nations peoples, as are the Sacred Headwaters rivers in British Columbia, and many more.

How about the Thames, in England? It certainly doesn't come to mind for me, or at least it didn't until I came across Thames: Sacred River, by the excellent writer Peter Ackroyd.When I think of the Thames it is of a polluted waterway used as a shipping highway, bordered by concrete and stone in the city of London. It turns out that the Thames was a sacred river for the pre-Christian Celts and then adopted as such by the Romans and eventually by Christians.We are tremendous pilferers.

There is a patron saint of the Thames, Birinus. I know, I know, you've never heard of him, but he lived in the 7th century and baptized a lot of pagans -- in the Thames. There are churches named after him along the river, and he established a church dedicated to St. Mary. In fact, Mary is something of a patron of the river herself, with a number of churches with her name along the Thames. St. Alban is said to have parted the river on the way to his execution so he could cross, a la Elijah parting the Jordan. 

I'm fascinated by this history, but for me even the most obscure streams and rivers have a holy quality. Where there is water there is life. Trees and birds flourish near water and the temperature is moderated.Last summer we took our grandsons, three and five at the time, for a paddle on the nearby Salmon River. We saw turtles and dragonflies, kingfishers and herons. The boys were enchanted, and so were we. 

Thank you God for sacred waterways, great and small.  

 






Baptism of Jesus illustration from the St. John's bible
Donald Jackson