Thanksgiving
The United States of America has one holiday that is uniquely ours: Thanksgiving Day. John Bradford and 103 other passengers aboard the Mayflower landed at Cape Cod in 1620. The long, ardorous journey presnented many diffculties. They had to go a different route because of pirates, and a violent storm cracked a massive heavy beam on the ship. The passengers had brought with them a giant heavy screw wi, and they used this to hold the ship together. Seasickness brought troubles and some of the ship's crew tormented and troubled the passengers. In all the sickness, only one man died, and he had been one of the crew who had tormented the passengers in their sickness. One young boy, John Howland, was swept overboard in one storm, but he held on to a rope and the crew pulled him back to saftey.
What made these people risk it all to come to a strange land? Freedom. They wanted the freedom to worship God in the manner they chose and not one dictated to them by the government. Liberty, they came for liberty. Before they disembarked from the Mayflower, they signed the first legal document our little fledgling country would know: The Mayflower Compact. They landed short of the destination near New York, that the Kind had given them a patent for, but they decided to stay where they had landed, and so made a document that would help them maintain order and a civil law of sorts.
That first winter 47 of the 104 people died. The winter had been unusually hard cold. These first founders and a generous Indian tribe worked together and helped one another. They had the first Thanksgiving and it lasted a full three days. The Indians and Pilgrims shared in the feast and they played games. It must have been a wonderful time.
When I was girl, we didn't celebrate Thanksgivng by watching sports on television. We gatherred around the table with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My cousin Gloria, 16 years my senior,would sing in her beautiful soprano voice, We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing, and then prayers would be spoken, and the feasting begin. It was a time to be truly thankful for the blessing that God had brought to us during the year.
When I married, our tradition was to have three kernals of dry popcorn on each plate. This was to remind us that the pilgrims had very little that first year, but God in His great blessing brought them that difficult time. For each kernal of corn on the plate, we name something we are thankful this year.
In this one day when the United States has its one unique holiday, we get caught up in Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and sports. We lose sight of what the day really should be about. Do we forget to be thankful? Do we take our blessings for granted? Can we even see the blessings? Even in these tough economic times, we surely can find things to be thankful for? Do we only look at material blessings?
May, you dear Reader, whether you live in the United States, Russia, Germany, Canada, or some other country, have a blessed day. May you join in giving Thanks to an all-knowing God, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. May your day be blessed.
P.S. There is a wonderful book on the Mayflower and the Pilgrims written by George Morton. It is called Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims of Plymouth.
What made these people risk it all to come to a strange land? Freedom. They wanted the freedom to worship God in the manner they chose and not one dictated to them by the government. Liberty, they came for liberty. Before they disembarked from the Mayflower, they signed the first legal document our little fledgling country would know: The Mayflower Compact. They landed short of the destination near New York, that the Kind had given them a patent for, but they decided to stay where they had landed, and so made a document that would help them maintain order and a civil law of sorts.
That first winter 47 of the 104 people died. The winter had been unusually hard cold. These first founders and a generous Indian tribe worked together and helped one another. They had the first Thanksgiving and it lasted a full three days. The Indians and Pilgrims shared in the feast and they played games. It must have been a wonderful time.
When I was girl, we didn't celebrate Thanksgivng by watching sports on television. We gatherred around the table with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My cousin Gloria, 16 years my senior,would sing in her beautiful soprano voice, We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing, and then prayers would be spoken, and the feasting begin. It was a time to be truly thankful for the blessing that God had brought to us during the year.
When I married, our tradition was to have three kernals of dry popcorn on each plate. This was to remind us that the pilgrims had very little that first year, but God in His great blessing brought them that difficult time. For each kernal of corn on the plate, we name something we are thankful this year.
In this one day when the United States has its one unique holiday, we get caught up in Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and sports. We lose sight of what the day really should be about. Do we forget to be thankful? Do we take our blessings for granted? Can we even see the blessings? Even in these tough economic times, we surely can find things to be thankful for? Do we only look at material blessings?
May, you dear Reader, whether you live in the United States, Russia, Germany, Canada, or some other country, have a blessed day. May you join in giving Thanks to an all-knowing God, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. May your day be blessed.
P.S. There is a wonderful book on the Mayflower and the Pilgrims written by George Morton. It is called Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims of Plymouth.
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