On December 21, 1620, after a very difficult 66 day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, William Bradford wrote in his memoirs, “Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, we fell upon our knees and blessed God in heaven, who had brought us over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered us from perils and miseries thereof.”
The pilgrims all signed the Mayflower Compact which stated they had come to this part of America with one objective: “Having undertaken for the glory of God the advancement of the Christian faith.”
Only 47 of the 101 Pilgrims and half of the Mayflower crew survived the first bitter winter. But the following Spring, when the Mayflower set sail to go back to England, not one Pilgrim chose to return. They were not looking for an easy life or a good life but were establishing a Christ centered colony that would become a great nation. Bradford wrote in his memoir, “All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulty and must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.”
A local Indian, Squanto, who had before been a slave in England and could speak English, taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, fish, and helped them build an alliance with the local Wampanoag Indians. This resulted in the Indian Compact of 1621 in which the Pilgrims and the Indians agreed to not attack each other, but rather help each other.
In the fall of 1621, Gov. Bradford declared a time of thanksgiving for the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. After so much unimaginable suffering and sacrifice, the Pilgrims were genuinely thankful because the harvest of 1621 assured them they would have enough food for the coming winter.
On Gov. Bradford’s memorial are the words. “What your fathers achieved with great difficulty, do not relinquish without a struggle.”
We should all be grateful this Thanksgiving for William Bradford and the Pilgrims who walked in faith and endured so much suffering to found this nation. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 ( NIV) “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
J. Davis Illingworth, Jr.
Author, God of Hope