A River Flows Through It

I live in river country. A few blocks from our house flows the Rock River, coming down from the north and emptying into the Mississippi River about 40 miles away. My wife and I frequently walk a path that looks over the Rock. If we head the other direction, the trail crosses the river at a small dam. During warmer months, boaters enjoy the gentle current and fishermen angle for catfish, mostly. In winter, ice fishermen set up their tents on a small inlet.

We’ve lived here for 21 years, and I’ve yet to do any of that. I have seen eagles at the riverside, though—some perched high on a tree branch, others soaring aloft, waiting for mealtime from the nearby river.

Last week, I wrote about our 43-mile bike ride along the Mississippi. We don’t take too many opportunities for leisure time along the “mighty Mississip,” but have crossed it scores of times in all seasons. We’ve seen it during seasons of severe flooding as well as in times of drought when barge navigation is precarious.

Come to think of it, for most of my life, a river has been relatively close by. In my early childhood in Wellington, Ohio, the “rivers” could be better described as “creeks”—Wellington Creek feeds Findley Lake; Charlemont Creek feeds the Wellington Reservoir. My only recollection of Wellington Creek is driving over the bridge heading towards Medina. Spent lots of time at Findley Lake, but didn’t know the creek fed it.

My first real experience with a river came in later elementary school days in Niles, Ohio. About a 15-minute walk from our house on Washington Ave., my brothers or a friend and I would take our fishing poles to the banks of the utterly disgusting Mosquito Creek that feeds the Mahoning River. On rare occasions, we ventured farther to the river itself.

Nasty or disgusting are suitable descriptions of the Mahoning back in the late 1960s. Niles was an industrial city, dominated by steel and glass mills as well as a General Electric plant. If you’re as old as I am, you may remember some of the TV ads promoting the need to clean up our lakes and rivers.

The stench of dead fish, old tires and other debris, a slick film on top of the water—yeah, we tried to catch fish in that. And did, actually. Mostly carp and an occasional catfish. I wonder if the fish thought we were on a rescue mission!

Later in my youth, I became slightly familiar with the Fox, Des Plaines, and Chicago Rivers. None was a destination for me, but they weren’t far from our suburban Lombard home.

In college in Greenville, South Carolina, the Reedy River ran smack through the city, a couple of miles from campus.

We lived for four years in South Bend, Indiana, and became familiar with the St. Joseph River. Then four years in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the Clinch River flowed nearby. Again, I didn’t spend any time on the Clinch, but it does have an interesting claim to fame.

Oak Ridge is where the nuclear bomb was developed during the Second World War. In fact, the city didn’t exist before the Manhattan Project began. The US government selected this area tucked away in a valley west of the Great Smoky Mountains so that the project could be carried out in utmost secrecy. Waters from the Clinch River were critical to the program. If I recall correctly, the program wasn’t particularly good for the waters, though!

Near our next home in Shelburne, Vermont, the Winooski River flows from the Green Mountains in the east, through the state capital Montpelier (which experienced severe floods this summer during my hike on the Long Trail), Essex Junction, Winooski, and Burlington before spilling into Lake Champlain. On several bike rides on the Lake Champlain Bikeway, we crossed the bridge where the Winooski flows into Lake Champlain. Most of the time, we stopped on the bridge to take some photos.

And that brings me back to the present.

Rivers.

Without a doubt, the most exciting river experience has to be a visit to Niagara Falls, over which the Niagara River plunges nearly 200 feet.

My sister and I stopped at Niagara Falls on our way home from the summer hiking in Vermont. She had never been; this was my third time there.

Several years ago, our family visited the falls on our way to Chicago from our home in Vermont. We splurged and took the Maid of the Mist boat ride, getting very wet, but it was great fun.

Rather than take the boat, on our visit, my sister and I opted to take a short hike to the Crow’s Nest, located right next to the American Falls. Even with a poncho, we still got wet! A great view, though, to get a sense of the power of the water crashing against the rocks below.

Indeed, the Niagara River represents a powerful force, not only as it plummets over the falls, but in the generating of electricity for 25% of all the power used in New York State as well as the province of Ontario.

It also has a strange allure for the daredevils, doesn’t it? People have tightrope-walked across, others have ridden in barrels over the falls. Of all things, on October 1, 1995, Robert Overacker attempted to go over the falls on a jet ski. Well, over he went but didn’t live to tell about it.

Of course, Niagara Falls has great entertainment appeal and has become a tourist mecca. The commercialization is way overdone, in my opinion, but there’s plenty to do and see—little has anything to do with the Niagara, though!

But the river itself does afford breathtaking, beautiful scenery day and night. It is the main draw, and rightly so.

Rivers

It would make an interesting and rewarding study to navigate the “river passages” in the Scriptures. If you do so, you’ll discover that rivers actually “bookend” the Bible!

In the first book, Genesis 2, at the dawn of creation, a river flows from the Garden of Eden and feeds four other rivers—a critical sustainer of newly formed human, animal, and plant life. In the last book, Revelation 22 promises a pure, clear, crystal “river of life…proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

And in between? You’ll come upon scores of references to rivers—literal and figurative.

Rivers form the boundary of the territory God promised Abraham:

…the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates….”

– Genesis 15:18

The Nile River factors large during Joseph’s time in Egypt, as well as through the years of the growing people of Israel prior to the Exodus. It was the Nile River whose waters were turned to blood during the plagues, and from it came the frogs.

The Jordan River needed to be crossed for Israel to be able to enter the land. Before the episode of the crossing, you’ll read about the Arnon and Jabbok, lesser rivers east of the Jordan.

Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, the Jordan River shows up frequently. So, too, does the Euphrates and the “River of Egypt.” In addition, there are references to the “rivers of Babylon,” which the Jewish exiles came to know while in captivity. Speaking of which, one of those rivers—the Chebar—was the scene of some pretty fantastic visions experienced by the prophet Ezekiel! Daniel had a similar experience by the River Ulai.

Moving into the New Testament, you soon read about the Jordan River again—was a primary place for John the Baptist’s ministry; Jesus Himself was baptized there.

After that, there’s only one other river reference until the book of Revelation, and it’s a figurative reference. Jesus promised,

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

– John 7:38.

In other words, depending upon the person and work of Jesus yields everlasting life!

As the Bible closes, the earth’s rivers suffer under catastrophic judgment until the end, replaced by the pure, clear, life-giving river in the eternal kingdom.

As I ponder that future glorious river, I contrast it with the filthy, polluted, toxic waters of the Mahoning River—water certain to induce severe illness and possible death (killed plenty of fish!). Even the Niagara River can’t compare! Sure, it looks clean, and the blue-green color seems pristine. Yet the water has to go through a treatment plant to be safe for drinking.

Not so the River of Life! How refreshing to drink of those waters…forever!