Roll Jordan, Roll?

My first experience of the Jordan River was like that of so many other tourists. "Where? Where is it? That's the Jordan River!"

Disappointment hardly describes the reaction. After all, I grew up along the mighty Mississippi River. That's a river!

After sixteen visits to the land and to the banks of the Jordan River, I now come away with a profound appreciation of the lifegiving contribution of the Jordan. I better understand how one could sing "Roll, Jordan, roll!" Such words are more a prayer for God's gift of water to a "dry and weary" land.

Therefore, I joined in grave concern with others this week upon reading the story that the Jordan River could dry up within the year:

"Unless urgent action is taken, large sections of the Lower Jordan River, which runs from Lake Kinneret to the Dead Sea, will dry out next year, according to a study released on Sunday by EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME).The NGO ran tests over a year to determine how much water would be needed to rehabilitate the river and damage had been caused by the lack of water in it. Israel, Jordan and Syria divert 98 percent of the flow for their respective country’s use."

How can this be?

And yet we know how. Prolonged drought, diversion of the waters of the Jordan, and politics have brought us to this critical point.

Please join in singing, or rather praying: "Roll, Jordan, roll!" May the powers that be join minds and hearts in resolving the issues.

To read the entire article, go to the Jerusalem Post at http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=174550