Sunday, October 17, 2010

Holy Ground at River Confluence

When you stand on holy ground you feel it.

A place that has always been holy ground for me is where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers run together near Cairo, Illinois. That confluence provides me with a place I can go to reset my compass when I've lost my way in the world. It is sacred. Essential.

Recently, a friend mentioned that in some cultures confluences are important religious sites. This made me start thinking about my attraction to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio, just across the river from Kentucky where I grew up. I couldn't think of any other times I'd noticed confluences.

Less than two weeks later I was away from home and an offhand comment was made to a group about a confluence that was nearby. I made it a point to visit, to see if it felt the same to me as the confluence I'm familiar with.



You can see ridges where they run together. The river on the left is much faster, with a much greater current than the calmer river on the right. So, it makes a significant ripple where they come together.

I feel certain I'll be visiting other confluences.