"The Great River"

Now I, like a rivulet from her stream,

Channeling the waters into a garden,

Said to myself, “I will water my plants;

My flower beds I will drench. 

And suddenly this rivulet of mine became a river,

This stream of mine, a sea.

Thus do I send my teachings forth shining like the dawn,

To become known far off.

Thus do I pour out instruction like prophecy

And bestow it on generations to come (Sirach 24:28-31).

 

The name "Mississippi" is derived from the French spelling of an Indian word meaning "Great River."  In 1541, Hernando DeSoto, the first European to reach the Mississippi River, called it Rio del Espiritu Santo, ("River of the Holy Spirit"). 

 

Perhaps the Great River reminded him of the passage from Sirach 24 -- "In Praise of Wisdom."  Wisdom, "coming forth from the mouth of the Most High," ... "overflows, like the Phison...like the Tigris in the days of the new fruits.  It runs over, like the Euphrates, with understanding, like the Jordan at harvest time.  It sparkles like the Nile with knowledge, the Gihon at vintage time.  The first man never finished comprehending wisdom, nor will the last succeed in fathoming her.  For deeper than the sea are her thoughts; her counsels than the great abyss."  The Mississippi River, powerful, deep, rich, and overflowing its banks, watering all the land around it and depositing rich alluvial soils for crops along its banks, may have been to DeSoto like the Gift of Wisdom/ Holy Spirit flowing from the mouth of God. 

 

In 1673, Pere Marquette, traveling with the French explorers down the Great River, proposed calling it "River of the Immaculate Conception."  There may have been a reason for his proposal in the origin of the Mississippi, which we know the French explorers discovered.  The source of the Great River is Lake Itasca, Minnesota.  Now the name "Itasca" is a combination of two Latin words:  the last 4 letters of the Latin "Veritas" (Truth), + the first 2 letters of the Latin "head" (or "source"), which is caput.  So the name "Itasca" means "The Source of Truth."  The Mighty Mississippi begins with a spring--Source of Truth---, becomes a lake, and flows out to water and divide half of the United States of America.  It provides nourishment, transportation, industry, and refreshment for half of the United States before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico.  The Immaculate Conception of Mary allowed her to received in its entirety the Word of God, the Source of Truth, which flows out into the entire world. 

 

After comparing wisdom with all the sparkling and overflowing waters with which he was familiar, Sirach says that he channeled a "rivulet" from the Book of Wisdom into his own garden, to water his own plants -- and suddenly, this rivulet became a river, and then a sea, sending forth its teachings like the dawn, overflowing to future generations. 

 

The Great Mississippi River is a living analogy for us who live close to it and even by its overflowing waters.  Everything grows in its rich alluvial soil.  So, too, is the Gift of Wisdom from the mouth of the Most High.  Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.  If we channel just a small stream of Wisdom from the Source of Truth, it will water not only our own gardens, but flow out from us like a mighty river.  This work is not our own, but the work of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, overflowing out of us, into the thirsty world around us.  Jesus told Nicodemus that we cannot understand the path of the wind -- where it comes from or where it goes.  He spoke of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.  We cannot control it, direct it, or even predict what it will do.  All we can do is to allow it to spring up in us as the Source of Truth and allow it to do its work in us.