My child’s heart knew that these names and places told a deep story of another time and people I did not know… If we continue to live with broken relationships with the earth, we lose those memories and future generations of all life will not be able to create new memories.
While growing up, on visits to my extended family in the north east part of the US, we would drive along the heavily wooded and shadowy Wissahickon Drive, and through the hilly neighborhoods of Conshohocken, Manayunk, and Passyunk of Philadelphia. These names and places stirred quiet curiosity and a feeling of communion inside of me. My child’s heart knew that these names and places told a deep story of another time and people I did not know.
I would later learn that in the language spoken by First Nations Lenape, Wissahickon means land-of-the-turtles, Passyunk means valley, Manayunk means river and Conshohocken means large-bowl-ground-place which indicates the bend in the Turtle River. These hills, valleys, and riverbanks were among the first places I felt a longing to be in relationship with people and more-than-human life alike – to understand cultures, languages, and habitats unlike my own.
I share this because these are the people and places imprinted on my heart that I go back to again and again when I feel the need for rootedness. We all have such roads. Trees and rivers and all Creation have their journeys too. Drawing on the deep wells of our lives gives meaning to today. Going to the deep wells is both symbolic and real. If we continue to live with broken relationships with the earth, we lose those memories and future generations of all life will not be able to create new memories.
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