Prayers for a River Gone Dry

The Rio Grande through Albuquerque has gone dry only a few times in living memory, and each time it stirs something deeper than statistics. This year it happened again, part of the driest year on record.

The last time, in 2022, the American Friends Service Committee and its partners invited anyone who cared to gather at the river. About 75 people walked in procession to the banks, led by Conchero danzantes, and offered prayers from many traditions, poems and songs: grief for the dry riverbed, thanks for the rains that returned, and hope for a new water consciousness and right relationship with Mother Earth. It is a gathering worth remembering, and perhaps worth renewing.

Sources: Prayers for a river gone dry (American Friends Service Committee) · The Rio Grande is having its driest year on record (NPR via KAXE)