Rivers and Spirituality

Sunset on the Missouri River in Sioux City, Iowa on October 31, 2018 from my hotel room...it was a sunset that I wrote about in my journal.  The colors seemed to get better and more vibrant with each passing moment, leaving me in awe of a colorful sky.   While I am in the state of Iowa, across the river is Nebraska and a few miles upstream is South Dakota.This area and all of the surrounding states have struggled with some of the worst flooding in a century this year.  Even now, the river continues to be just below the flood stage and this past week saw another big winter storm with a great deal of snow that caused havoc for recovery efforts.  I continue to include these areas and the people who are affected in my prayers everyday.How can water be such a life-giver at one time, but be a life stealer in another?Water is life.  We need water to survive and so does every living thing.  Water flows in a river calmly like this picture of the Missouri River and can be used in a bath tub to help a person unwind from a day filled with stress.  A river can also have rapids and provide great beauty as it runs through a waterfall.  It still provides a method of  transportation for goods to be shared with those downstream on great rivers like the Mississippi.  A river can be sacred, like the Ganges and gets used in spiritual practices like washing of feet and hands.  And as it has done this year, a river can flood and cause loss of life for farm animals and people.On this Sunday that commences Holy Week, I wanted to share several very different styles of songs on the spirituality of  a river.  In each of these songs, the music shares a hope when all seemed lost.  That is something I will take with me into Holy Week and I hope you do too.  Hope in our darkest times...The River sung by Garth Brooks"Too many times we stand asideAnd let the waters slip away'Til what we put off 'til tomorrowHas now become todaySo don't you sit upon the shorelineAnd say you're satisfiedChoose to chance the rapidsAnd dare to dance the tide."River sung by Josh Groban"I walk down to the riverWhere the troubles, they can't find meLet the waters there remind meThe sun will be there when we wakeI walk down to the riverThough I might not understand itIt's not always as we planned itBut we grow stronger when we breakSo I walk down to the river..."Down by the Riverside sung by Playing for ChangeOl' Man River sung by Paul RobesonShared by Marcie DollIf you would like to lend a hand or make a donation to the continued disaster in the Midwest, PBS Newshour shared the following resources:  Organizations that need our help and provide flood relief services.  And please continue to pray for all of our brothers and sisters in the Midwest.