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GOD’S INVOLVEMENT IN THANKSGIVING
God did some amazing things to bring Thanksgiving all
together. His divine providence provided such a remarkable event, that we
continue to celebrate it today. This story would be a good one to read to your
children and the people you spend Thanksgiving with, and you can talk about the
new things you learn.
It was the Pilgrims’ second year in America. During
their first year, half of the 102 Pilgrims died. Of the 50 who remained,
only six or seven were strong enough to care for the others. But God had a plan
for these people. A Native American man, Squanto, enter these Pilgrims’ lives
to teach these new Americans how to survive.
The leader of the Pilgrims was William Bradford. He wrote
about his experiences with Squanto. It’s in old English, but we can still
understand it:
“They (as many as were able) began to
plant ther corne, in which servise Squanto stood them in
great stead, showing them both ye maner how to set it, and after how
to dress & tend it. Also he tould them excepte they got fish
& set with it (in these old grounds) it would come to nothing, and he
showed them yt in ye midle of Aprill they should have store
enough come up ye brooke, by which they begane to build, and
taught them how to take it, and wher to get other provisions
necessary for them; all which they found true by trial & experience.
“And thus they found ye Lord to be with them in all their
ways, and to blesse their outgoings & incomings, for which let
his holy name have ye praise for ever, to all posteritie.”
Bradford added: “Squanto… was a special instrument sent
of God for their good beyond their expectation.”
Squanto was a willing teacher. He taught the Pilgrims how
to find eels and trap deer. He showed them how to net birds, how to grind corn,
and how to find berries. He taught them how to hunt raccoons, bears, otters,
and beavers. He taught them how to fish in the bay and along the coast in the
summer, and how to cut holes in the ice to catch pike, perch, and bream in the
winter.
Squanto’s life itself was amazing; how God took bad
circumstances and turned them into good for both Squanto and the Pilgrims. In
1605, a member of the Native American Patuxet tribe, Squanto was captured by an
English explorer and taken to England where he learned to speak English. In
1614 Captain John Smith brought him back to America, but he was captured again
and taken to Spain to be sold as a slave. Local Catholic friars rescued
him and introduced him to Christianity.
He went back to England and got on a ship to his native
America. But when he got home, he found that all of his tribe had been killed
by a plague. The sudden death of the whole tribe scared the neighboring tribes,
and so they never went onto the property, making it available for the Pilgrims.
Also because of the odd circumstances of the tribe’s annihilation, the other
tribes didn’t attack the Pilgrims, and Squanto facilitated a peace treaty that
lasted over 50 years.
With Squanto’s help, the Pilgrims’ second winter in
America was far better than the first. William Bradford remembered the habit of
the Dutch, who celebrated their freedom from the Spanish with a holiday every
October. Bradford decreed a day to set aside so that all the Pilgrims might
“after a more special manner, rejoice together.”
The Pilgrims gathered their food to feed the fifty of
them, but Bradford sent Squanto to invite the chief of his tribe, who gladly
came with 90 of his men, tripling the size of hungry mouths. The chief must
have realized they needed more food, and he sent five of his men out. They came
back with five deer and started celebrating. They ate deer, turkey, fish,
lobster, eels, vegetables, cornbread, berries, pies, and popcorn that the
Native Americans showed the Pilgrims how to make. They competed in games
of wrestling, shooting, and running. The chief had such a good time he and his
men stayed and celebrated for three days.
The first harvest feast of the Pilgrims was more than
just a time to eat together. It was a whole celebration of God’s blessing. They
had survived in this new land, and in their second year, they were beginning to
succeed and grow.
Love, Carolyn
If you’d like to read more about this time in Northern America,
I highly recommend America’s Providential History by Mark
Beliles and Stephen McDowell and William Bradford: Plymouth’s Faithful
Pilgrim by Gary Schmidt.
BOOKS FOR INSPIRATION, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND SPIRITUAL
GROWTH:
