Off the Editor’s Spike: They gave …thanks!

When was the last time you really considered – not Thanksgiving as a holiday – but the pilgrims?

This year almost marks the 400^th anniversary of an even which spawns much nonsense, if we only think of turkey, pumpkin pie and school children attired in big belt buckles, white head bonnets, and Pilgrim hats.

This year marks the voyage of the Pilgrims. The perils they endured on the high seas during 1620 were significant but hardly apart from a string of hard realities these people faced.

First, they’re called Pilgrims because of that journey from the Old into the New World. The people who landed at Pilgrim’s Rock were actually separatists from the Church of England enduring discrimination. England’s law of the land not only prohibited these English citizens from worshipping as they pleased but also made it illegal to depart from the country. So, they snuck out.

On one attempt they were betrayed and thrown into prison. On a second attempt, the men were forced into rethinking a plan to leave their women and children alone with the ship’s crew and for good reason. When the crew spotted potential trouble with the authorities, they weighed anchor and escaped to the open sea, leaving wives and youngsters wailing on the beaches.

Eventually these soon-to-be Pilgrims evacuated to the city of Leiden, Holland. For nearly 12 years they tried to make it home despite strangling economic circumstances. No different than today, people must move to where they can make a living and, during the Pilgrim’s day, the best opportunity to realize religious freedom with gainful employment seemed to be in America …despite the risks.

It wasn’t easy finding a ship, but with difficulty The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, in September 1620. Some scholars described the cramped living conditions as putting more than 100 people in roughly the space of a school bus – for a 2-month voyage! When they finally arrived in America, they found themselves more than 200 miles north of their intended destination.

That first winter was brutal. Before leaving England, the Pilgrims likely knew that half of the 102 passengers would die during that first winter. Like today’s COVID pandemic, the death toll was not evenly distributed. It hit adults more than children, women more than men. So, of the 18 wives who are passengers on the Mayflower, 14 die before the spring.

Ponder on that. By the time of the first Thanksgiving feast, there were only four women and just over half of the number of survivors are children. That first feast was attended overwhelmingly by widowers and orphans still facing a very uncertain future.

And they gave …thanks!

Pass the turkey and cranberry sauce? Not likely. The Pilgrims feasted mostly whatever the 90 or so Indians brought or in what that taught in helping the Pilgrims survive. Most likely they feasted on ducks and geese fresh fish, mussels, clams or even some eels, alongside an Indian corn succotash as well as turnips, spinach, onions, and other garden vegetables. Today we don’t even get the date right. The feast likely occurred in the early fall in 1621, not the last Thursday of November after most of today’s crops are harvested.

Amazing Pilgrims? No. Amazing grace.

Thanksgiving is a unique Christian holiday observed only in America. The Pilgrims, our forefathers, truly celebrated God’s kindness in the midst of what most of us would consider untold tragedy. Their focus was not on their troubles in this world, but of the hope and promise God has given to all mankind. During this year marred by COVID, we would do well to do likewise and celebrate God’s grace – through Jesus Christ’s victory over death, come whatever may – and give Him thanks.