The Yadkin River partners — Christine Rucker, Phoebe Zerwick and I — are at work on a new project, one we’re calling, for now, “Sacred Rivers.” Over the coming months we’ll be visiting with communities of faith and others for whom rivers provide context, setting and meaning for ritual. In August, we spent time in Buffalo, New York, getting to know a community of Hindus who mark the holy month of Shraaven by wading into the waters of the Niagara River. At Rosh Hashanah we’ll be in New York City for Tashlich, a ritual that involves casting bread into the waters of the Hudson. And in May, we were with Joy Truluck and Matt Scheidt when they conducted a blessing ceremony for their 13-month-old son, William.
We especially appreciate the shout-out on the “Being Blog” of American Public Media’s beautiful show, On Being, with host Krista Tippett.