River Living

            Joni Mitchell sang “Wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet to fly.”

I was looking out over the Kennebec River the other day and I was blessed realizing that I have lived along this river for more than half my life.  When we first arrived in Richmond the river was often referred to with a sneer of disgust.  We taught our children the things we learned almost immediately upon our moving to town; the water is dirty-don’t swim in it, the water has a strong current-don’t swim in it, three (or was it two?) children drowned while living on Swan Island-don’t swim in it.

            The truth is that in spite of all the downsides of the river I grew to love it.  In the summer I loved taking the kids down to the sandy spots when the tide was out. In the fall I couldn’t wait for the leaves to fall so I could  I look out and see the sun ripple along the top of the moving water.  In the winter we would smelt (ice fish) and we would send our kids across the ice in “mud buckets” when the wind was just right. In the spring I could stand outside and listen to the ice snap, crackle and pop as the ice began to melt. 

            Almost 30 years ago we would be surprised as we watched an eagle fly over the river, seeming to fly along with the natural flow.  Today there are several eagle families living in the trees along the river, there is new life and it is thriving, we are no longer surprised by the spotting of eagles, we expect it.

People no longer sneer when they say “the Kennebec.”  Rather they refer to it with pride, they even built a bridge that provides a stunning view.  People fish and some even swim and many have no memory of the recovery it has experienced. 

Would I have believed it possible if someone said 30 years ago; “One day this river is going to be a beautiful source of life.”  Maybe, but I always loved it like it might.  Standing at the edge of the river one cannot see its beginning or its end, we live in the middle and we wonder.   When all common sense is yelling “Don’t swim in it”, stop and take in all the little signs of hope that could lead you to expecting new life.

Ezekiel 47:9
"It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.”