The other night I watched a film about the Pilgrims and the treacherous voyage they took to arrive in what they thought of as the new world. Of course, we all know that nothing can be new or discovered if it is already inhabited, but it was new…to them. Due to the inclement weather during the voyage, they were forced to throw most of their most precious belongings overboard. What once seemed very important and simply impossible to leave behind became expendable. Their very lives were at stake and if they had not lighten the load of that ship, they all would have perished. So the hard choices became not so hard and they threw those things overboard without a second thought. They encountered illnesses they never had before and were unable to treat and they watched the weakest of them starve to death. They mentioned the sacrifices mothers made to go without eating just so that their children would have just enough to survive, they showed the Captain’s burden as he decided who ate and who did not, in essence who lived and who died. The funny thing about the movie was they managed to incorporate a love story in between it all. As a side note, where would we be without love?
This movie sparked my interest and prompted me find out what part the Pilgrims faith played in all of this. Well to be certain, without even looking anything up I was sure when they reached land they dropped down on their knees and thanked, God just for the fact that they were able to feel land under their feet. I am sure they did not care if it was the new world or an old one; they wanted to get off that ship. I myself, have been on a couple of cruises where I felt the same way.
History tells us, that in August 1620, the Pilgrims sailed from England and were headed to Virginia. They began with 102 passengers and disembarked with significantly less. Because of the weather the ended up in Cape Cod, Mass. However, before disembarking that November, they made a pact called the Mayflower Compact. In this pact the first thing they mentioned was that the people were free to worship God, advance the Christian faith, and basically live as a civilized, law abiding, just society. The first winter was rough and by the spring, many of the settlers had died. They had less than half of the people they started with. However, the spring came. They were able to build, plant, and meet, trade and learn from their new neighbors (the Indians). After the harvest time, their Governor proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving.
“Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element.”
In reminiscing upon the colony’s success, Bradford continued, “Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of [God] have all the praise” (ibid.).
The Gov. was right in doing this. God commands us to give Him thanks. Passages can be found in the Psalms, Philippians, Ephesians, Thessalonians, and chronicles to name a few. “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).
Well, I hope that this past Thanksgiving you gathered with your family, friends, and in addition to your thanksgiving feast, you remembered the origin of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims wanted to give God credit, for bringing them through it all. The soul purpose of the day was to thank and acknowledge God for His blessings, His steadfastness, His miracles, His grace and His mercy.
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