by Rower Girl

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: July 17, 2009

Each river is a sacred place. It is a natural and beautiful place. The rivers of the world provide humans and animals alike with drinking water and for recreational use, and "asking" for only one thing in return: to keep each looking clean and flowing beautifully. And we are giving something in return. Unfortunately, what we are giving is not making the rivers better for all.

Pollution and contamination are rampant and we are not doing anything to stop them, but rather encouraging both. This is a tragic fate for the bodies of water in which we humans trust to be safe and clean for every living thing both in and out of the water. This trust goes back to the beginning of time.

Without healthy rivers, how would early humans and animals have thrived and built those amazing civilizations that are written about in history books? In most of those civilizations, rivers were at the heart of them, whether for functional purposes such as aqueducts or for spiritual purposes. How would they have survived? The answers to these questions lie in the rivers themselves. Rivers are the history. They are the links to the past.

And in rivers everywhere, there are signs for ecologists as to just how healthy the ecosystem is and how clean the river water is by the count and types of creatures, fish, and plants that inhabit it. Everyone knows the saying that one can learn from their mistakes, and it applies here across the board.

Now it is clear just how important our rivers are to everyday life, and now more than ever we need to apply the lessons we learn from each one and help save them from a fate that was never meant to be. We also need to reflect on our lives and how the rivers have affected us personally. Whether it is for recreation, travel, religion, sport, or for any other reason, rivers are what connect us to the rest of the world and them to us. If we do not care for the rivers, how will we survive? This is a great question to contemplate for the sake of not only survival but also communication, and the possible downfall of all of modern society.

So as we think on that, we need to band together right now whether through a community group or organization or through our governments and recruit others to help us save these natural havens from endangerment and to instill the present and future generations with life-long knowledge of our love of the rivers.

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