What makes Thanksgiving so special? 

Why do we celebrate this holiday?

Thanksgiving is unique as it celebrates the larger concept, something everyone, regardless of religion, race, or creed, can relate to and recognize—something uniquely American. 

It’s deeper than just Pilgrim’s dressed in top-hats sharing some turkey with the American Indian natives. 

There is a reason we, as grade schoolers, were taught about the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving before we were ever taught about the first English colonies in the New World. 

The original English colonies in North America emerged either for economic gain or in pursuit of royal glory on behalf of the King. 

However, the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower and the communities they established went beyond mere colonies; they were the architects of America. And, that is why Thanksgiving is so important.

Why the Pilgrims came to North America

If not motivated by gold or glory, why would the Pilgrims make the journey across the Atlantic to settle on a strange, hostile coast? 

Of great importance, these Pilgrims were NOT adventurers—young men with strength and experience, nothing to lose and everything to gain—but rather established professionals with families, children, jobs, and EVERYTHING on the line. 

This was a very dangerous trek in which survival was not guaranteed. 

In fact, the Mayflower had a famously deadly first winter; 44 of the 102 original passengers died from a combination of disease and malnutrition.

If it was that dangerous, why leave in the first place? 

Many of the Pilgrims were Separatists, they were a religious group originating from England, inspired by the Protestant Reformation raging on the continent at that time. 

They firmly believed that reforms to the Church brought about by King Henry VIII’s divorce from the Catholic Church and the creation of the Church of England were insufficient. The felt that the only way to correct them was to break away and build a new, separate Church (thus Separatists). 

Yet, King Henry couldn’t allow that. He couldn’t allow the Separatists to live their lives as they saw fit as it would be a direct challenge to his “divine right to rule.” Henry burned or beheaded those that disagreed with his religious policies. 

So, the Separatists were persecuted, driven out of their homes, and fled across the ocean to fend for themselves in a remote and hostile land. The Pilgrims risked all for a chance to lead their lives in the way they believed God wanted for them.

Hardships Endured by the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims faced many hardships during the crossing, including a severe storm that nearly shattered the Mayflower and sent it far off course. Massachusetts, where they actually landed due to the storm, was hundreds of miles away from Virginia, where they had intended to land. 

This was a problem for the Pilgrims: the documents establishing their rights to be there, in Virginia, and the authorities that governed them, were now void. 

Yet, these courageous men and women who had just braved the Atlantic to escape the King were not ready to limp back to England to grovel at the King’s feet, renegotiate their charter, and risk beheading. Nor would they risk making the turn south towards Virginia around Cape Cod with its dangerous winds and shoals.

So, on November 11th, 1620, the pilgrims gathered and decided to write their own charter. In doing so, they began a legacy of self-governance that we can follow to the present day. 

This new charter, known today as the Mayflower Compact, had profound meaning for the Pilgrims, who saw it as an important part of their original mission: to create not only a new Church but also a new nation joined by a covenant with God. 

The Mayflower Compact would continue to be read at the beginning of government meetings for years, despite it being legally superseded only a year after its creation.

The First Thanksgiving

If you think back to grade school, you know where this story goes next. 

In March of 1621, an English-speaking Wamponaog Native American named Samoset made contact with a Pilgrim named Edward Winslow. Before long, the Wampanoag were teaching the Pilgrims how to survive in New England. 

That autumn, following a successful harvest, surviving the trek across the Atlantic and establishing their own government, the Pilgrims decided to celebrate with a three-day festival of prayer. 

The Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow noted in his journal that the colony’s governor, William Bradford, sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the three-day event. They invited their new Native American friends, brought out the pumpkin pie . . . well, pumpkins at least. The pie would come in later years. 

And, Winslow wrote, additionally, that the Wampanoag arrived with an offering of five deer they roasted over a fire on a spit . . .

With that, the First Thanksgiving was born.

What did these sojourned souls have to be thankful for? 

• They were forced to flee their homes
• Their ship barely made the crossing
• They landed in the wrong place
• Half their number died before the year was out
• They had to rely on strangers for their survival
• Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong

So, why were they so thankful?

• They were thankful for their lives and the lives of their surviving friends and family
• They were thankful for their relationship with God, strengthened not only by their hardships but also by their newfound religious freedom that permitted them to worship God in the way they saw fit. 
• They were thankful for the generosity of strangers, who saw them in their struggles and stretched out a hand
• They were thankful that there was an English speaker among the Native Americans, over 3,000 miles away from England, in an area previously untouched by Europeans? Coincidence? I think not. 

While these things, family, food, and freedom, may seem trivial or basic to many of us here and now, they were everything and more to the Pilgrims. 

This week put yourself in the shoes of the first Americans, look around at all we have, be full and content with the grace of God smiling upon you with the simple basics of life.

“And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.” —Edward Winslow; (Pilgrim and diplomat) on the First Thanksgiving

May your Thanksgiving be full of thanks, joy and plenty.

Repost from our Doctor Adam Nally…