Once Upon a Time: A Thanksgiving Story
Once
upon a time, in the country of England, there was a group of people who were
fed up. They were sick and tired of the
governing body telling them how they could and could not worship God, so they
moved to Holland.
Holland
was alright, but it took its toll on their kids.
They decided to try again, this time in a land far, far away. It took a treacherous 66
day voyage to get there. Leaving in
September, they arrived in November.
(If
you know anything about New England winters, you know they’d have been better
off landing in Florida. To make matters
worse, all the leaves had likely fallen off the trees already, so
it’s not like it was even pretty to look at.)
Most
of these brave souls stayed aboard ship through the brutal winter. By March, of the 110 Pilgrims and crew that
set out, less than 50 survived.
But,
on March 16 of 1621, an Indian named Samoset walked into the encampment,
scaring the bejeebers out everyone until, in ENGLISH, he said, “Welcome!” The next day he brought back another Indian,
named Squanto, who knew English even better.
Squanto
taught them how to make the most of the land and its produce. They had a great harvest the next autumn (and
got to see the leaves change), and had a great celebration with their
Indian friends.
And
they all lived happily ever after…at least for a while.
Because
that’s real life, right? It’s good and
bad. Up and down. Blessing and cursing. And God is there through it all.
God
kept them afloat across the sea, protected them from total annihilation through the
winter, and provided the help they needed exactly when they needed it, and in their own language. He was with them,
providing for them, long before they left England. He was there in the cold, the sorrow, the
hunger, and pain. And He rejoiced and
celebrated with them in their abundant blessing.
He
is always with us (Matt 28:20), meeting all our needs (Phil 4:19), whether it's 1621 or 2013.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
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Coming Along Side
What’s on my heart this week isn’t what I intended to write about. I wanted to tell you that the word pilgrim is only used two times in the Bible, both in the New Testament; pilgrimage is used three times and only in the Old Testament. The root word for pilgrim means to “come along side; resident foreigner.” Our forefathers took a risk coming to this foreign land and many of them were as those listed in Hebrew’s “hall of faith” chapter. “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims, exiles, on the earth.” (Ch.11:13)
Instead,
my thoughts have been on my six-month-old granddaughter who was admitted to the
hospital and hooked up to oxygen and IVs last week. Tests were run, but nothing
had been determined. My son and his wife took up “residence as foreigners in a
cold and sterile place” in order to come
along side their daughter. They don’t know how much longer they’ll have to
be there, but again, I think of the saint in Hebrew 11:9 who “By faith he lived
as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents
with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.” My son's family has been given that promise.
Jeremiah
speaks further about it in 29:11, “ ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’
declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future
and a hope.’ ”
My
son has also been given the promise that God will never leave nor forsake him.
God is right there, along side Ryan’s pilgrimage with his daughter. I’m
thankful it’s not the same journey God took me on concerning my own daughter who
has lived in heaven since she was two.
While
we are all pilgrims sojourning in this fallen world of disease and brokenness, we
are not without promises. One of the most powerful tools we have to aid us
during our earthly trek is stated at the beginning of this devotion: Thy statues are my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage. Don’t wait for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or for a given reason.
Celebrate now with songs of thanksgiving for the days of your life here, even
as aliens and strangers. “Sing to the LORD a new song.” (Psalm 96:1)
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
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Living in light of Legacy
He was orphaned as a child, and soon found himself mixed up in a rather edgy church in a town called Scrooby. When he didn't play nice with King James' (of Bible fame) denominational monopoly - he was thrown in prison. He was 17 at the time, mind you.
And so the stage was set for this world changer to rise. Isn't it interesting how God can use anyone for His great purposes?
Bradford headed to Holland for refuge with the rest of his church family. When life got volatile there their hunger for life in God and freedom led them to make a rather daring decision - travel for 3 months in a boat to a completely foreign land and build a new home. There was never a guarantee that any of it would work out - that they would even survive the crossing.
I often think of Bradford standing on the deck of the Mayflower. He had no idea about Plymouth or Thanksgiving or football games. He had no idea that he would play a role in the founding of a new nation. He had no foresight for a new country that would expand from sea to shining sea, or the advances in technology that would connect Plymouth to Leiden, Holland in seconds. Which might have proved handy at the time seeing as though it's where he left his small son before embarking on the journey to America.
Bradford's tale always challenges me with the questions of:
What am I hungry for?
What am I willing to do to live fully in God?
What am I leaving as a legacy to those I will never meet?
This Thanksgiving, I find myself full of gratitude for the brave ones who have come before and made a way for me to live with such freedom, and I wonder what do I have to give for those who will come after me?
"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city...Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that isset before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 11: 13-16, Hebrews 12:1-2
Monday, November 18, 2013
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IN, Not Of, This World
This week most of
our children will hear something about the first Pilgrims who ventured across
the Atlantic in order to practice religious freedom. Some will read the story,
watch it via media, or even re-in-act parts of it. While they scratch the
surface of the religious convictions that prompted our founding—families to
sacrifice so much for what may appear to have resulted in so little for them,
each of us will serve up our own reflections on the gain the Thanksgiving pilgrimage brought. We will offer a “plate
full” of our own experience with portions of the following: what we have
learned from our own journeys; how our faith has been strengthened or tested,
Biblical adventures, and the meaning of a pilgrimage.
Jesus stated in His prayer to the Father, referring to believers: “They are not
of the world,” (but, as pilgrims,) “I have sent them
into the world.” (John 17:16 & 18.)
Sunday, November 17, 2013
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My Thanksgiving Crush
As a third grade teacher, I can’t help but think about Pilgrims, Squanto, and hand print turkeys this time of year. Confession, in secret, when the class isn’t looking, I drift off thinking of my Mayflower crush, William Bradford. He was Plymouth Plantation’s most notable governor and founder, the man commonly associated with creating Thanksgiving. There’s just something about him.
I have thought about Bradford and the voyagers on the Mayflower this holiday. A little over one hundred men, women, and children huddled on a stinky, creaky boat for three months in search of a new life. I can’t help but think of what was going through their minds. I’m sure they thought they had lost their minds a time or two. I marvel at this question: what possess a little renegade English neighborhood in Amsterdam to pack themselves into a small boat, travel across an ocean for the first time and start a new little town on a large chunk of land they knew little about?
My guess: Hunger. I think Bradford and company were hungry – hungry for freedom and hungry for God. Bradford’s life reminds me that incredible things happen when people get hungry. I doubt Bradford knew what he was heading up when he led the people to Plymouth. He didn’t know his hunger to live for Christ would help birth a nation.
It bids me to wonder then, what is my hunger for Christ capable of?
As we feast this Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the hungry ones who have gone before, and for the hunger that propels us on.
“It was to the astonishment of many and almost to the wonder of the world, that from so small a beginning such great things should ensue, - as in due time was manifested; and that there should be resting place for so many of the Lord's people here, when so sharp a scourge had come upon their own nation. But it was the Lord's doing, and it ought to be marvellous in our eyes.”
-William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, Puritan father and governor to the Pilgrims
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
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