We must listen to the rivers. Rivers show us that change is part of life and that even power has its limits. Generations ago, settlers harnessed the power of water to fill their basic needs. Rivers provided a means of transportation leading to migration of people, trade and commerce. These settlers discovered what the rivers could teach them and those lessons built nations. Somehow after mankind started taking rivers for granted, people stopped listening to rivers and have overlooked the lessons rivers offered to them.
Rivers still offer many important lessons:
Cause and Effect – Rivers show us the cause and effect relationship at every turn. We have learned what happens when waste is released irresponsibly into our waterways for years. We get it now. Cause and effect. Rivers never run straight and there may be boulders that change the course of the flow.
Change is part of life – A river flowing in its channel is a source of energy which acts on the river channel to change its shape and form. A river plays and important part in the water cycle.
Even power has its downside -Rivers, the forces of water, make hydroelectric power possible. Hydroelectric power plants do not require any fuel and do not produce greenhouse gases directly, the construction of the dam for hydroelectric power disturbs the environment. This construction changes the course of the river’s water disturb natural habitats.
There are limits – There are rules for matter, energy, motion, etc. – In nature, there are limits. There are limits to the amount of sediment a river can carry. There is a limit to how long the banks of the river can withstand the force of water, especially if humans have engineered ways to change the flow of the river. This lesson from rivers is that there are limits to how much hate, violence, and oppression there can be in a society and still be a society.
Interdependence – The most successful relationships are ones that are interdependent. The factors biotic and abiotic have something to give as well as needs to be satisfied. Rivers are habitats for flora and fauna and their is also an interdependence between the river and the people who live and work nearby.
Empty before reaching the destination – Rivers flow to the sea. Today, many of the greatest rivers are dry long before they reach the sea. The Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers in the United States, the Nile in Egypt, the Yellow River in China, the Indus in Pakistan, the Jordan en route to Jordan, and several other major rivers have faded before their term is up.
And yet, there can be too much of a good thing – When conditions, natural and unnatural, are out of control, to an extreme, we suffer flooding. Floods take lives, damage communities, and create fear.
We can learn persistence. Rivers flow downhill from river source to river mouth, but they do not necessarily take the shortest path. River courses may be straightened to increase flow rate and modified to improve navigation. Individuals can straighten out their lives for a smoother ride. Metaphors, rivers vs. human behaviors, are in every ripple and current.
We can create many analogies comparing lessons in life to lessons we can learn from rivers. Amazingly, such comparisons were made long ago. These observations, these analogies were profound enough to have been recorded:
“The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.” – Voltaire
“The virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in the sea.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as any man born free to be contented penned up.”- Chief Joseph
Rivers taught people that waterways make travel, transportation, and trade possible. People learned to build their settlements, towns, and cities along major rivers. River valleys and plains provided fertile soil for farming. Farmers in dry climates learned to irrigate their cropland irrigation ditches to carry water carried from nearby rivers.
Rivers started a revolution, the Industrial Revolution. Centuries ago, mills and factories were built near fast-flowing rivers so that the water could be used to power machines. Those lessons from rivers flowed into the practice of using steep rivers to power hydroelectric plants and turbines.
The flow of lessons from rivers will never dry up as long as we still have rivers. We need to take action to preserve our rivers and listen, as there are still lessons to be learned for generations to come.
