By Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle
‘This is it,’ yells Raph, spreading his arms wide.
‘Too right!’ I say. I think he’s celebrating the wonder of the place.
‘No – this is where one of the big dams would go.’
I blink, startled. ‘Here?’
(‘Is a River Alive?’, Robert Macfarlane)
IN THE THIRD ACT of his book, “Is a River Alive?”, Robert Macfarlane takes the reader to Northern Quebec and narrates his journey by kayak from Magpie Lake down the Mutehekau Shipu River.
Just as the group makes it through the Saxophone rapids, the narration pauses to take it all in and then smacks the reader with this profound plot twist. The guide, who has been nicknamed the Boss, shares that this spot is one of the places Quebec Hydro wants to place a dam. Apparently, it is a convenient spot as nature has done some of the work for them.
The consequences would be devastating. Everything that has been part of the story so far – the lake, the river, the rapids, the forests, the moose that had wandered through the campsite, the various birds that circled above them, the bilberries they feasted on, the black flies, would all be destroyed by the construction. As Macfarlane narrates: “…all of it flooded, lost within the dozing, sluggish stasis of impoundment.” (p.283)
Talk about a plot twist! The reader is left wondering how we are supposed to navigate the tension between the human need for hydroelectricity and the wonder of the great Canadian wilderness, the wonder of God’s Creation.
Of course, that is the point of Macfarlane’s book. To ask: “Is a River Alive?” is really to ask about our relationship with water. Mutehekau Shipu river is the first river in Canada to be recognised as a living, rights-bearing being with protective guardianship. The ideal of this legal proclamation is to change humanity’s relationship to the river from dominion over to one of stewardship. It is to recognise that the river possesses gifts that should be accessed in responsible, respectful, and reciprocal ways.
Is a River Alive?
To ask the question is to challenge perspectives on water and yet, water is something that we can all too easily take for granted. We don’t have to think about where our water comes from when we turn on our taps, use our washing machines or dishwashers, or turn on the electricity. We aren’t necessarily paying attention to the extent to which AI is using water to cool its mechanisms every time we type something into its programs.
We are not necessarily attuned to the consequences of the water runoff from our treated lawns into the sewers and back into the waterways. It is easy to maintain a level of willful ignorance about the implications of our own water usage on the life of our local and global water systems.
Is a River Alive? What is our relationship to water? What does it look like to embrace a focus on stewardship that honours the gifts of time, talents, and treasures available through those in the non-human world including the waters of ponds, rivers, lakes, and oceans?
The Season of Creation is a liturgical time from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4. This year the focus is “Living Water” inspired by Ezekiel 47:1-12 which portrays God’s life-giving water flowing from the temple and restoring and sustaining the land and waters.
This time presents an opportunity for us to reflect on our relationship with Creation, and especially our relationship to water. How might we be better stewards of the gifts God has given us in Creation?
There are resources available through https://seasonofcreation.org/ to support our faith journeys through this season. May we use this opportunity wisely and find this time challenging, renewing, and transforming.
Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle is a co-chair of SEJH.