“It’s true that debunkers can score some easy points. The term ‘Pilgrims’ wasn’t popularized until later. They didn’t wear dour clothes. They didn’t consider their iconic gathering in 1621 a formal thanksgiving… But the basic contours of the holiday are recognizable in that long-ago event.” - N.Review
In our last installment, we considered three essential lessons that we may learn from the lives of the Thanksgiving Pilgrims. Here are the final two lessons that we will consider.
The Pilgrims model perseverance in the midst of difficulty (Phil. 3:14).
In my previous article, I introduced the importance of the Pilgrims, and shared a little bit of my own heart for my Thanksgiving, and my interest in studying and teaching on the Pilgrims.
This time, we will consider the first three of five essential lessons that we can learn from the Thanksgiving Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims vividly portray the pilgrim-like nature of the Christian life (Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11, 12).
There is no question about it—Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, bar none.
The mere word warms my heart and causes my mind to click through the memories of Novembers long past. It conjures up images of family and dear friends—some now departed—gathered around a bountiful table; of special services at church and shortened weeks of school; of singing grand old hymns which we re-learn usually just once every year; and, most importantly, of giving thanks to God for bringing us safely through another season of life.
“Pop culture has given us a distorted picture of the religious separatists who founded Plymouth Colony. Historian John Turner sets the record straight.” - CToday
“How can we wash our hands of the rotten fruit still being harvested while we enjoy the gain and spoils accumulated via the efforts of a program of dehumanization that is generational in its span? Time has ontological weight and events in our nation’s time hang guiltily around our collective neck.” - John Ellis
“The New York Times has quietly backed off of its claim that August, 1619, when the first slaves were brought to Virginia–not July 4, 1776–is America’s “true founding’….Historians savaged the project, showing that these claims are simply untrue. Liberal historians joined conservative historians in debunking the project. It turns out, the New York Times ignored the report of its own fact-checker!” - Veith
In the 1850’s “Californians learned the hard way that vigilante justice and the demands of the mob are no substitute for police and courts of law. Let us hope we do not need that lesson again.” - National Review
“A very different response is found in Rev. Francis J. Grimke…. Grimke acknowledged that there was some ‘considerable grumbling’ regarding the closing of churches. But he also offers a defense: ‘The fact that the churches were places of religious gathering, and the others not, would not affect in the least the health question involved.
“Schlafly’s elegant hairstyle and clothing were perfectly mirrored in Blanchett, according to Schlafly’s niece. ‘It was very surreal to listen to Cate Blanchett…. She just did an amazing job on that front.’ Unfortunately, that’s where the similarities end.
