Lessons from the Pilgrims, Part 5: 400 Years Later

 

As I keep listening to Bradford's "Of Plimoth Plantation", the following thoughts came together on my Instagram account @chronic.hannah 

"They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven."
- Pilgrim William Bradford 

It's Thanksgiving! If you think about the important history behind this celebration, you likely picture the Pilgrims dressed in their finest, feasting with their new neighbors - the native American Indians. You remember that they celebrated for days and enjoyed games and competitions.

But I am getting a much clearer picture of the setting for this event as I listen through the history recorded by Pilgrim Governor William Bradford (just search his name on LibriVox.org for the free audiobook.) Within a few months of arrival to their new home (an inhospitable wilderness with insufficient supplies, reached by a perilous journey after years of persecution and exile), half of the Pilgrims had died.

Besides years lacking basic supplies, clothing, and most of all - food, the Pilgrims would now face empty promises, deceit, and betrayal by members of their funding organization back home and from new settlers joining them only in hopes of personal gain.

How did they respond? By seeking God's wisdom, trusting Him for provision, seeking to love and serve their enemies, and, yes, GIVING THANKS!

I think the Pilgrims would be appalled at the tone of Thanksgiving now. Theirs was no vague "feeling" of gratitude for their blessings. They thanked GOD. When they had endless reasons for fear, discouragement, and complaint, they chose to look up and remember God's love and faithfulness.

400 years later, I need to learn from the Pilgrims. And not just on Thanksgiving Day!

No Place Like Home

"There is nothing like this anywhere!" said Ian. 

"Do you mean nothing so beautiful?" asked Alister.

"No; I mean just what I say: there is nothing like it. I do not care a straw whether one scene be more or less beautiful than another; what I do care for is—its individual speech to my soul. I feel towards visions of nature as towards writers. If a book or a prospect produces in my mind a mood that no other produces, then I feel it individual, original, real, therefore precious. If a scene or a song play upon the organ of my heart as no other scene or song could, why should I ask at all whether it be beautiful? A bare hill may be more to me than a garden of Damascus, but I love them both."

What's Mine's Mine by George MacDonald

Make-Your-Own Lotion

"Did you know that the average woman puts 515 synthetic chemicals on her body every day without knowing? And 60% of what we put onto our skin is absorbed into our bodies!"Dr. Eric Z. - 3.11.17

Since Elsa and I suddenly developed allergies and multiple chemical sensitivities the week that our bodies crashed under the strain of chronic Lyme disease in 2014, we (as well as our amazingly supportive family!) had to give up all the personal care products, laundry detergents, and even scented candles, etc. that were now destructive to our health. 

The hunt continues for healthy replacements. More and more companies are learning to leave out the toxic ingredients as our culture is being stressed by increasingly pervasive allergies and autoimmune diseases. But some things we still have to make ourselves. So it is nice to run across recipes like this!

Whipped Body Butter

Ingredients

• 1 cup organic coconut oil
• 1 cup organic solid cocoa butter (do not use lotion)
• 15 drops of your favorite topical/aromatic essential oil (such as Lavender or Frankincense essential oils)­

Find directions and a video at the  Young Living blog

The cocoa butter can be substituted with organic shea butter, but the sour smell takes some getting used to. Whereas the cocoa butter and lavender version smells good enough to eat!

XOXO

I've long known that the letters "X" and "O" are used to add "love" in written English. But I guess I never know really knew why... or what they specifically stood for.

So, who should I ask, but an online search engine? Thanks to the Urban Dictionary, I am informed that "X" denotes a kiss and "O" a hug.

My curiosity still not satisfied, I search further, and Wikipedia fills in some background:

The common custom of placing "X" on envelopes, notes and at the bottom of letters to mean kisses dates back to the Middle Ages, when a Christian cross was drawn on documents or letters to mean sincerity, faith, and honesty. A kiss was then placed upon the cross by the signer as a display of their sworn oath. It was also used in early Christian history as much of a display of the same.

Whether or not that is the true source, I like that! After all, the cross of Christ was the place of ultimate love.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

And then back to Wikipedia:

There is speculation on the internet from at least one original source that the 'O' is...

Well, that sounds rather iffy. I'll think I'll wait for a more reputable source. :-)

But I can picture the circle representing how we want to surround someone with a hug.

As wonderful as a human hug is, how about being surrounded with an infinite, unfailing love?!

"the LORD'S unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him."
Psalm 32:10

Now that's a HUG! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Surprisingly, much of our December was too cold to play in the snow. Not that you couldn't be out there skiing or snowshoeing with the right gear, but the snow simply won't stick together when it's too cold.

Such as... 27 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit!

But one day in January the sun came out and the air was well above zero. So I reached out the porch door with my bare hands and built a little snowman!

Later in the month, we had a very slushy day. While out for a little fresh air in the evening, the snow became irresistible.

Though I began with a traditional, three-balled snowman in mind, it eventually changed into none other than "Snoopy." Or is it his chubbier brother, Olaf? [That thought brought much amusement in our home due to "Elsa's" snowman with that name. Disney has forever changed our associations with those names...]

Part of the fun of building my snow-dog was that it was the first time I really put my wool mittens to the test.

These are the very first pair of Norwegian mittens I made a couple years ago. Now I have made around twenty pair!

Guess what! You can see how wet the slush was from which I shaped "SnOlaf," but not a drop of moisture reached my hands. God's creation of wool is amazing! It just got even cosier and warmer as the slush and rubbing motions helped to gently felt my mittens.

At the Lake: August

Though we did not stay overnight at the lake in August, my family did make it out for parts of several days. 

The water was lovely, the sun-therapy powerful
... the sun-burns warm for days. :-)

One afternoon, the oncoming rumble of huge thunderheads drove us in from the lake to the cottage, but I had to keep pushing my way out into the wind for periodic breaths of the powerful storm air. 

I had not felt so strong and well for months... or probably years! Was it the preceding time in the anti-inflammatory sunshine or something about the air pressure in the head of the storm??

Though short-lived, I enjoyed that hour of strength to the full. And I enjoyed watching and feeling the storm roll in with its changing lights and shadows, its churning waters and growing waves, and the far shore being blotted out by the rain and hail that finally swept me indoors.

  

After the storm passed, we had a lovely evening getting out on the calm lake for our first canoeing in several years. Such a gift!

Thank you, LORD, for all these gifts!

At the Lake: June

It's time to catch up with some of the pictures I have been taking for my blog. Summer is basically gone up in our northern climes, so I'd better finish posting what I promised of times at the lake.

A cosy gathering on Father's Day

Though I don't think I swam that early this year, the water was nice on the feet.

July Colors

July included a visit to Maren and Jason's greenhouse.

Walking through the gate, the colors are striking. People often feel as if they have entered a different world. Maren gets asked if realizes how very lucky she is to spend each day in this beautiful place. But anyone who has worked at a greenhouse - or even tending their own flowerbeds - can also appreciate the immense amount of effort required to create and maintain such a beautiful, peaceful spot.

Through the open sides of warm greenhouses, I enjoyed views of flowerbeds flowing across the lawn.

And back on the tables were so many colors, shapes, textures and scents to delight the senses. 

Then for the brave, Jason grows a mean pepper! Though my tastebuds would fry under such heat, I can still enjoy the beauty of these lively bunches.

Dorothy also got in on this outing, and I had my first opportunity to drive her van the hour through lakes and trees to reach Maren's new community. (It took well over an hour to get home since I got lost around the lakes, but...)

The main excuse for this outing was to fulfill a wish of Grandpa's. Though his 100 year old eyes are very dim, he still wanted to visit his eldest grand-daughter's new life. He could just see the masses of bright colors and listen to our descriptions and explanations.

Visiting over some ice-cream treats amid these wonders of God's creative work was an added bonus!

Popcorn Plant

When you think of a popcorn plant, you doubtless picture a corn stalk with ears of the special kernels which, when heated, explode into delicious puffs.

Ahhh! I can smell it now. Freshly popped corn...

Or wait, I'm just smelling this unusual plant!

Popcorn Cassia plant

If you rub the leaves of the popcorn cassia plant, it smells exactly like popped corn. No kidding! And the blossoms are pretty quirky too. :-)

That is just one of the amazing plants at Maren and Jason's greenhouse this year. The banana plant is pretty imposing too. Then I love feeling the different textures of grasses: silky, brushy, spiky, squirrely...

And some of my favorite colors are among the many varieties of begonias. Here are just a couple of the vibrant shades.

At the Lake

Elsa and I had the gift of part of an afternoon and evening at the lake for our first time of the year. Plus I was able to use my renewed eye/brain abilities to drive us there. 

Another huge gift and answer to prayer!

We spent time on the dock enjoying sunshine on our faces, rain clouds rolling across the lake, sprinkles on our arms...

... loons swimming nearby and calling in the distance, breezes tossing cat's paws across the calm water... 

... our shadows lying on the lake bed, light playing across the miniature mountain-ranges of sand and reeds washed up in the shallows...

 ... and some time of knitting, reading, and writing. Plus a bit of a nap. ;-) 

So many gifts in one day. Thank You, Father!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows."

James 1:17