The Pilgrims First Thanksgiving

"Then the sicknes begane to fall sore amongst them, and thef weather so bad .... the Gov/r and cheefe of them, seeing so many dye, and fall downe sick dayly, thought it no wisdom to send away the ship...."  (please excuse the spelling and such, as this was a direct quote)

Capt. Miles Standish had been much at his wife Rose's bedside. As much time, that is, as he could spare from stalking game, guarding against savages, and felling trees to construct crude homes on shore. A bitter wind whistled through chinks and cracks in the Mayflower, anchored in Plymouth harbor that winter of 1620-21. Rose's chills would turn to uncontrollable shaking. Then just as suddenly, her body would be ablaze with fever. Herbs from the surgeon's chest did little to relieve her. By spring only five wives remained out of the eighteen who had sailed to Plymouth. Rose was not among them.

Thanksgiving? What was that? The golden dreams of a New World that Miles and Rose had cherished together had evaporated into hollow hopes. And yet that fall Capt. Standish joined other bereaved Pilgrims in the first Thanksgiving celebration.

The real test of thankfulness is whether we can give thanks from the heart for what we do have, despite the wounds and pains of yesterday's struggles. Ours is not some fair-weather faith, but a resilient trust in the midst of pain. The Pilgrims lived close to the edge of survival. Perhaps that is why they were so thankful.

How about you? Does your material bounty cause you to neglect thanks? When your clan gathered this Thanksgiving was a prayer of thankfulness forgotten between moist turkey and pumpkin pie? Did your children see you bow your head to give thanks, or merely ask for another helping of dressing and cranberry sauce?        Children were watching, you know. And their little faith is being formed by what they saw. Your family's Thanksgiving celebration was an instruction to them about thankfulness, for good or ill.

Did they see you too wealthy to be thankful? Too independent to need God any more? Too bitter, perhaps? Or did they watch you truly give thanks for God's blessings on this special day? And maybe as they w, led, they caught a hint that, in spite of painful seasons they have faced, have seen these bitter winters bear fruit in better thanksgiving.