Fortitude, Light & Hope

by Jim Lyon, Senior Pastor

Everybody knows that the fabled pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower in 1620 and headed for Virginia—but landed in Massachusetts instead. Ouch. And you think you got lost trying to find that new little restaurant in Fishers. And then there was that whole surviving the New England winter thing (47% of the Pilgrims, in fact, did not survive), bitter cold, howling winds, blowing snow, and all the rest. Very unpleasant.

As troubled as that first year in the Plymouth Colony was, this band of Pilgrims interpreted their experience as just another step forward in their journey with God. They were accustomed to making sacrifices for their faith; the harrowing challenges of building a new life in the New World were preferred over the terrible price they had already paid for their old life in the Old World.

The Pilgrims were a congregation of believers who refused to conform to the prevailing (at the time) Church of England. While living at home in England, the Pilgrims found that it was actually against the law not to go to Anglican services on Sunday; every Englishman who did not attend was fined the equivalent of six pounds (about $10 today). Jobs were scarce, ridicule was abundant, official and social ostracism was unbearable. They would not accept what they considered to be a corrupted practice of Christianity and elected to flee first to The Netherlands. In a way welcoming, Holland still was a stretch for them; the Pilgrims found the cultural adjustments very rough. They treasured their English language and heritage, but saw it all falling quickly away as their children began to speak Dutch. Amsterdam, even way back then, was a place of moral license, in which the Pilgrims felt very uncomfortable and threatened. And it appeared that Spain might reassert control over the low countries (like Holland). The Pilgrims feared trading the persecution of one crown for another. Where to go? What to do?

The answer? Cross the vast Atlantic on the Mayflower, of course, and settle in America. They were not the first to do so—and certainly not the last. Few assumed greater risks to pursue their dream, though. Sailing from Britain in September and landing near Cape Cod on the following November 21, the Pilgrims were confined “below decks,” by the crew, stricken with scurvy and who knows what else for months. Wading ashore in that bleak, damp November, weakened, hungry, and rancid from so many months in closed quarters, the Pilgrims had to wonder, “What have we done?” as they considered carving a new home in the dark, overpowering wilderness.

The miracle of the colony’s survival, the drama of the small party’s ambition, the anchoring faith in God which held them steady and led them to overcome impossible odds is now too often dismissed as quaint legend. It is not. It is history. It is our history. It is the history from which the kernels of American self-government and civilization have been planted and grown. It is the history of Thanksgiving Day.

The story of that “first” Thanksgiving feast day (well, actually, days—it was a three day celebration) is at the core of the whole narrative. A people who might have spent days complaining and gripped by fear and doubt, chose instead to spend their days thanking God, acknowledging His sovereign hand and trusting Him for their future. The power of that thanksgiving to transform their course is what Abraham Lincoln recognized (in another very challenging season of the nation’s life) when, in 1863, he established the custom, by Presidential proclamation, of calling the nation to prayer and thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. (Franklin Roosevelt later adjusted the traditional date from “the last” to “the fourth” Thursday in November–to extend the Christmas holiday shopping season in the wake of the Great Depression).

And so, these 387 years after the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving, as we stare into our future with confidence sometimes shaken, as we wonder what lies around the bend, as the-once-mighty General Motors teeters near collapse, as questions can seem to outnumber answers, as the November weather turns chill on its way to winter, we, too, can find transformational light and hope in the Pilgrim (and very biblical) commitment to thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving Day, stop and pray. Pray with others in your house. Acknowledge God. Thank Him for His sovereign hand in your life (yes, even in the midst of tough stuff), and trust Him for the days ahead. Identify three things for which you can thank God out loud, in the company of witnesses. Read a Psalm (like Psalm 138); read it, also, out loud. Don’t even think about eating that turkey (or those sweet potatoes with melted marshmallows on top) without thanking God first.

And, oh yeah, thank God this year that those Pilgrims didn’t give up. Their faithfulness and fortitude have blessed generations. Yours can, too.
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Important Notice: On November 26, Jim's Blog will migrate to the Threads blog (http://threads.madisonparkchurch.org). This site will remain open as an archive for an indefinite time. Questions? Contact Kevin Majeski, Communications Director at Madison Park Church of God.