Action & Prayer, Down by the Riverside

 

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city;[a] it sha

ll not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Psalm 46:4-7 NRSV

So often I don't know about the special anniversaries and "days of" until they are upon us or have slipped by. I try to blog in advance although that doesn't always work. It means that when I see something like International Day of Action for Rivers (Monday) I am responding after the fact. 

Rivers fascinate me and I've made more of an effort to understand the watersheds in proximity to where we live. We are paddlers, both in a canoe and kayaks, getting out on the water scores of times in each of the past two years of the pandemic. We have snooped along sections of the Salmon and the Moira and the Trent rivers within an hour of home. I'm already paying attention as sections of the Moira which runs through Belleville open up and I'm excited that within a few weeks we will be able to make our first foray of 2022. 

As it happens, the most recent issue of Canadian Geographic arrived the same day with an article about called I am Mutehekau Shipu: A River's Journey to Personhood in Eastern Quebec (impressive timing!) In countries around the world rivers are being franted legal personhood and rights, and this is the first in Canada. Rivers are dammed and used as conduits for industrial and human effluent, but in February of 2021 the Innu people of the region and the municipality made this joint declaration as part of the Mutehekau Shipu Alliance. 

This trend fascinates me as someone who views rivers as vital to the integrity of Creation. There are plenty of rivers in scripture, in both testaments, although they often seem to be backdrops in stories, including the baptism of Jesus. Imagine if we regarded them as living, breathing entities, worthy of respect and protection.

How about listening to a lovely rendition of I Went Down to the River to Pray by Alison Krauss? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swOLCLrqBn8

            Moira River March 2021