Lessons from the Pilgrims

This week Columbus Day was on the calendar. Last week it was Leif Erikson day. (Well, I don't suppose many calendars contain that celebration of a Nordic explorer arriving in North America around the year 1000 A.D., but I put it on mine!)

Both of these men were remarkable in courage and (despite well-known shortcomings and inconsistency in the life of Columbus) for their desire to spread the gospel to new lands.

But this year is a big anniversary for some people I admire far above these early explorers. Four hundred years ago, the Mayflower set sail in pursuit of freedom to worship God without government interference. The Separatists on board also yearned for a homeland where they could raise their children with less destructive, worldly influences.

They found this place when they landed at Cape Cod, but it would be far from easy to build their new lives in a new land. 

One of the Pilgrims, William Bradford, published an account of the treacherous journey and first ten years of this new life called, "Of Plymouth Plantation." Of the first winter after arrival, he wrote:

"But that which was most sad and lamentable was, that in two or three months' time, half of their company died, especially in January and February. ...In the time of most distress, there [were] but six or seven sound persons, who, to their great commendation be it spoken, spared no pains night or day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, fetched them wood, made them fires, dressed them meat, made their beds, washed their loathsome clothes, clothed and unclothed them. In a word, did all the homely and necessary offices for them which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named; and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least, showing herein their true love unto their friends and brethren. ...I doubt not but their recompense is with the Lord."

Does this history help put the trials of 2020 into perspective?

And reflecting on the Pilgrims as we approach the season where we continue their celebration of Thanksgiving, I wonder... 

How much of their faith, freedom, and vision have we lost 400 years later as we look for comfort and prosperity more than for God's glory lived out in our families and nations?