Is the Seine the "river of the water of life"?

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. 

On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations

                                    Revelation 22:1-2 NRSVue

 Ruth has long been a fan of the Olympic Games, me not as much, especially since they've added another unofficial ring with the motto "richer." The Olympics still offer a breath-taking display of athletic excellence. I  know I'll be watching the endeavours of Canada's swimmers, particularly the strong women's team. 

It wasn't long ago that the French government and Paris mayor were touting the Seine River which flows through the city as a swimming site, at least for longer distance events. Recently Mayor Anne Hidalgo donned a wet suit, goggles, and we can hope a tetanus booster, to take a dip in the river to indicate that the waters were welcoming. 

After spending in excess of $2 billion (Canadian) for a massive clean-up officials have declared the Seine swimmable...sort of. Levels of e coli and other nasties are acceptable but will need to be tested, day and day and perhaps moment by moment. However, Dan Angelescu, founder and CEO of Fluidion, a Paris- and Los Angeles-based water-monitoring tech company, says he wouldn't swim in the Seine based on water quality in June. 

The Seine was used for swimming events at the 1900 Olympics in Paris but by the time of the games in 1924 the river was an open sewer, unfit for humans or any other creatures. In fact, since 1923 swimming in the Seine has been banned. 

Regular readers may remember that I wrote about the proposal to have some swimming events in the Seine a while ago. I mentioned my own interest in urban rivers and how they indicate the vitality of a community. Here in little ol' Belleville (pop 55,000) the Moira has become a much cleaner river but I wouldn't swim in it, at least in town. In Toronto the 
Don River is being revitalized and renaturalized but recent storm events show that there is a long way to go. 

I always think of the passage at the end of the book of Revelation which envisions a clean river lined with fruit trees in the New Heaven and Earth. I suppose that in a way the Olympics are meant for the healing of the nations, although the Seine is fenced off for many kilometres for safety reasons, so it's hardly a focus for gathering and reconciliation. 

Some countries and jurisdictions are now granting legal personhood to rivers for their protection, an interesting concept whose time has come. We can affirm the importance of rivers throughout our Judeo/Christian scriptures and add in some prayers for the health of athletes during the Olympic Games --gulp.