The Meaning of Thanksgiving Day - Pt. 2

 

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. (Psalm 107:1-3 ESV).

 

When discussing the history of Thanksgiving, we usually start with the Pilgrims. Quite a bit of myth surrounds the Pilgrims and the “first” Thanksgiving. Generally, the myths oversimplify the facts. What is true is that the Pilgrims, hoping to obtain more religious freedom apart from the Church of England, sailed across the Atlantic aboard a ship called the Mayflower as part of a for-profit venture underwritten by investors in England. Arriving in November 1620, the Pilgrims quickly discovered they were woefully ill-prepared for a New England winter. Before that first winter’s end, starvation and disease killed nearly half of the 100 or so settlers.

 

It wasn’t until spring that the local Native Americans, the Wampanoag, approached the Pilgrims in hopes of making an alliance against another tribe that threatened them. They had kept their distance because earlier English explorers had kidnapped some of the indigenous people and taken them to Europe as enslaved people. The Wampanoag had a man living with them who had been one of those kidnapped and enslaved, who had regained his freedom and returned to America. His name was Tisquantum, or Squanto, as some of his Pilgrim friends would call him. Tisquantum spoke English and taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, hunt, and fish. By the late fall of 1621, the settlement had laid up a great store for the coming winter. They celebrated with several days of prayers, feasting, and games. Hearing the festivities, about 90 Wampanoag people joined the fun, contributing venison and corn to the feast.

 

Many now think of these days of thanksgiving as “the first Thanksgiving.” But the tradition of declaring days of thanksgiving long predated the Pilgrims’ celebration in 1621. Community leaders could proclaim a day of thanksgiving at any time of year, but would often do so after a particularly good harvest. The Pilgrims’ feasts were probably not even the first days of thanksgiving in North or South America. However, the tradition was more common in the New England colonies, and as years passed, it became more regular. As New Englanders migrated west, they took their traditions with them. An enduring legend arose from the dramatic events in 1620 and 1621 that most certainly fueled the burgeoning custom through the nearly 200 years that followed. By the early 1800s, days of thanksgiving were being sporadically proclaimed nationally and at the state level, most often in the late fall. By the mid-19th century, many states in the North held annual thanksgiving holidays in the fall as days to give corporate thanks to God for his provision and blessings in the harvest. By this time, the tradition had also begun to include foods found primarily in eastern North America, most notably turkey. Proponents of making Thanksgiving a national holiday harkened back to those days of feasting in 1621 as the first Thanksgiving…even if it wasn’t the first.

 

While it did not originally begin as a religious holiday, it was coupled with the concept of being thankful to God for His gracious deliverance. That is at the heart of this wonderful holiday. I hope you’ll stay tuned for the next few days as I intend to share some of the wonderful blessings God has given to us as a reminder of the Source of all good things! Today I encourage you to start making your list of those things in your life. Post them in the replies to this little devotional so we might encourage one another in these days.