“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thes. 5:18)
The famous landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts in 1621 was followed by a celebratory meal, Thanksgiving, in which new friends were made and hope was restored. This feast lasted three days, and as recounted by pilgrim Edward Winslow, who said it “was attended by 90 Wampanoag Indians and 53 Pilgrims.” Most Americans recall this “first Thanksgiving” with pride, as an icon of where-with-all and the example of working together in peace. After a tragic winter of death and fear, the kindness and generosity of the native peoples made this thanksgiving a true salvation meal. But there was another “First Thanksgiving”! In the 1600s, every nationally sponsored ship of exploration and discovery bore the responsibility to honor God when success was at hand and petition God when trouble was near. The Christian faith was as much a staple of colonization as the sails were a part of the ship. Our some-time tragic history of forced conversions and purges bears the sad witness that our faith was often proclaimed by those who had little understanding of what Christianity is truly about. Still, no matter what came next, every ship’s landing was inaugurated by a liturgical moment of prayer and proclamation, a thanksgiving for God’s divine provision. It was on December 4, 1619, that the Good Ship Margaret landed at what is now Berkeley Plantation with 35 settlers-to-be. Upon landing, Captain John Woodlief, the crew, and passengers, per instructions from the Virginia Company, “immediately conducted a religious ceremony of Thanksgiving.” This was not a feast, there was no cornucopia overflowing with fruits and vegetables, no fat turkey or bowl of cranberry sauce, this was a simple and (hopefully) sincere liturgical moment of devotion and praise. This event is recorded as the “Site of First Thanksgiving” on the historic placard that marks the location of the landing, but was this really the First Thanksgiving? On April 26, 1907, Captain Gabrill Archer and 105 settlers touched ground at “First Landing” and named it Cape Henry, in honor of King James' eldest son, Prince Henry. Before leaving the Cape for their next landing (what would become Jamestown), the Reverend Robert Hunt conducted a service of ‘thanksgiving to God for deliverance and divine providence. Settler George Percy, wrote, "The nine and twentieth day we set up a Crosse at Chesupioc Bay, and named the place Cape Henry." A copy of that Cross remains there to this day. For no other reason than to give thanks, this was First Thanksgiving. Or was it? There is no doubt that we have room for all three of these Thanksgiving accounts. The simple beauty and directness of the Virginia landing Thanksgiving speaks to faith responding directly to God from a gathered community. The celebration Thanksgiving of Plymouth tells of faith in action reaching beyond itself to embrace the possibility yet unhoped-for. The common thread that binds these two is the belief that God is sovereign and present, caring, and leading, ever guiding us for the good. Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, with a proclamation by President George Washington after a request by Congress. It was Abraham Lincoln who, in 1863, proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," calling on the American people to also, "with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience ... fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation...". Lincoln declared it to take place on the last Thursday in November. However your family chooses to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, with turkey or order-out-Chinese, surrounded by loved ones or blissfully binging on Netflix, this national holiday with all its accumulation should ever be first and foremost a celebration of God’s divine provision. Every day is thanksgiving day to God; Thanksgiving Day is no exception. “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thes. 5:18) Peace, Fr. Bill+
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AuthorFather Bill Burk† Archives
February 2025
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