Hi Friend,

A favorite picture in our home depicts the early Pilgrims celebrating the first Thanksgiving in America at Plymouth, Massachusetts.   It took place in the fall of 1621 following a difficult beginning in the new world.

After the fall harvest Governor Bradford sent men out to hunt for fowl for a Thanksgiving celebration to God for their blessings.  There was enough bounty, along with produce from farming for a three-day celebration for them and ninety invited Indians including King Massasoit.  The generosity of the Pilgrims inspired Massasoit to respond with deer meat for the colonists.

While this is the officially accepted “first” Thanksgiving in America, others had already occurred.  While visiting Berkley Plantation in Virginia I was surprised to hear the guide say that the First Thanksgiving in America took place at Berkley in 1619, two years before the one at Plymouth Colony.

Surprisingly, the claim to be “first” is made by Massachusetts, Virginia, Maine, Texas and Florida.  Christians other than Puritans had settled in several states and all were accustomed to recognizing God as the source of their blessings.

That so many scattered groups unrelated to one another, each gathered as a community to give thanks to God is profound evidence that the early American settlers were thankful people.

They had crossed a big ocean in small boats, lived through traumatic times, fought vicious foes, suffered persecution, and lived with deprivation.  The experience of suffering taught them that the world was a hazardous place to live. Life itself was often threatened.

Even nature could be treacherous. The weather was harsh, the woods filled with ferocious beasts and the enemies they faced sometimes exterminated entire settlements.

The first citizens of the United States sought a New World that had the potential of being a Garden of Eden.  They were religious wanderers seeking deliverance from a hostile world and they were firmly convicted that God had opened the way for them.

Whether they came to Massachusetts, Virginia, Maine, Texas or Florida they were risking death to escape a destructive enemy.  They saw God as their Protector.  When the ships landed they thanked God.  When the harvest was gathered they thanked God.  When the enemy was conquered they thanked God.

The celebrations that occurred across the New World were sincere and honest declarations of profound dependence on God.

To reduce Thanksgiving Day to a time for shopping, watching football or the newest movie is to trivialize the deep meaning our forefathers held for this time.  Great and honorable men and women sacrificed much to establish a civilized and just world on this continent.  These industrious people stopped work for a few days to celebrate.  One day wasn’t enough for them—their joy was too great.  It required more than a few hours to express their joyful gratitude to the God who had made it all possible.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien