Three In One

I have lived by three rivers in my life. The Arkansas, The Columbia, and The Pend Oreille.

The smaller of the three, the Arkansas, during my growing up years, is the sixth

longest river in the United States, and the 45th longest river in the world. Its headwaters begin their journey in Leadville Colorado where the average snowfall is noted as 156.9 inches per year. In Pueblo these waters ebb and flow of course according to the season and the amount of snow melt. They also

water the abundant fields of the famous Pueblo green chiles. The Arkansas is a vital delivery system for irrigation and trade. Known for its excellent white water rafting opportunities, sections of the river host thousands of rafters in high season and brings much needed commerce to smaller Colorado towns. The river was once the border between the US and Mexico so it is appropriate that she ends her journey pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.

In Astoria Oregon I lived in a house that sat on slope just above the mighty Columbia river which originates in BC Canada and sustains a multitude of life as it flows wildly into the Pacific Ocean. Woodie Guthrie wrote a song about this wonderful river in 1941- Roll On Columbia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sH6CcsTafw

The most incredible length of the river (80 miles)

runs through the Columbia River Gorge. A national scenic treasure that boast stunning waterfalls, high cliffs, spires, ridges, and boast on a clear day... a breathtaking view of Mt. Hood's snowcapped peaks. Indigenous peoples have fished it for centuries feeding on the once plentiful salmon that now are much diminished due to the dams that dot the length of the great waterway. I landed a beautiful silver in that river once long ago on a snotty chilly fall day while casting from an old wooden pilot boat that had no business in those fast waters. The salmon was exquisite. The Columbia River is a thing of otherworldly beauty and power and sometimes danger. There are more than 250 vessels littering the floor near the bar where the river meets the sea.

As of this moment in time, I reside on the banks of the less majestic but nevertheless beautiful Pend Oreille River. This particular river is the shortest of the three I have resided near, but it is wide and deep, running up into BC and becoming eventually a part of the Columbia as a tributary. It is not as wild or fast as the Columbia, but a plethora of wildlife benefit from its existence. The Pend Oreille River marks the migratory path for thousands of waterfowl; geese, cormorants, wood ducks, tundra swan, trumpeter swan and mallards to name a few. The birds are what brought me to this shore. That is another story for another time. Like the other two rivers, indigenous peoples have long populated the banks of the Pend Oreille and continue to do so today. The Kalispel People paddle their long canoes annually in late summer to signal the beginning of their regional Pow Wow. The quiet peaceful beauty of this watercourse is often reflected in the awe-inspiring sunsets that can be observed from its Eastern banks where I live.

Rivers are to some extent living organisms. A totality of whirling swirling roiling running sustenance for both man and beast. We see it as a whole, a thing constantly renewed and in motion. Yet it consists of molecular sized elements... two hydrogen atoms, one oxygen dancing in a holy union to create a miracle that life on earth cannot survive without. A small thing this water, yet the polar bond between single water molecules creates a cohesion. A whole. A lake. A river. An ocean.

Miraculous this substance we take for granted. Spiritually it represents life, cleansing, and the interconnectedness of all things. It is reflective. It is transformative. It is restorative.

We can swim in it, drink it, boat on it. We clean with it, baptize with it, water plants with it. It can cut through a landscape, erode rock, spill over its boundaries with ferocity.

We cannot live without it.

Three atoms... a single drop of water contains billions of them.

Trinity

"He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" John 7:38

"When I arrived there, I saw a great number of tees on each side of the river. He said to me 'This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.' " Ezekial 47: 7-9

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of GOD and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Revelation 22:1-2