Creation Care Ministry Spotlight: "The San Antonio River - a Place for Learning"

The Creation Care Committee provides resources to help individuals and congregations become better stewards of God's creation and to inspire all to explore the spiritual nature of Creation Care. With this in mind, committee members are sharing stories of their love of nature and all beings in God’s good creation.

The San Marcos, like most of our rivers in the Diocese of West Texas, is fed by springs that flow from aquifers deep within limestone rock, fed by runoff from rainstorms. The water, cool and clear, begins its journey to the Gulf. Along that journey it receives surface runoff, bringing sediment and nutrients into the river, nourishing the estuaries (bays) that produce so much of our seafood. 

How can a river be a place for learning? A river's main lesson for us is that everything is connected. Obviously, the water that flows out of the aquifer and journeys to the estuary connects the two ends of the river. Water flows from the aquifer because rain fell on the watershed. That water actually came from the Gulf, Atlantic, or Pacific.

A river is a connecting theme for learning. For example, the San Marcos determined how this area was developed. Humans have lived at San Marcos Springs for at least 12,000 years.The Spanish established San Marcos de Neve on the river in 1808. The town of San Marcos was established in 1850 as a gristmill near the springs and several other towns were established downstream, using the water for irrigation and hydropower.  

The National Science Foundation encourages "Life long, life wide, and life deep learning. "Is there any better way to pursue that kind of learning than on your own river?

Click here to read more about "Places We Love in the Diocese of West Texas."

Written by Jim Kimmel
St. Mark's, San Marcos

Photo by Jerry Touchstone Kimmel