November brings Thanksgiving and offers a desperately needed perspective. As we hope and pray for economic stability and a relief from incessant worry about what the future holds, it is helpful to remember Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving, we may have more connections with the first pilgrims. 

They were separatists from the Church of England who in 1607 were denied the right to gather for worship. They moved to Holland and while granted religious freedom, their core beliefs were challenged by different customs and culture. They sailed for America in 1620 on two ships and almost immediately lost one of them, the Speedwell. The crossing was filled with terrible storms and crowded conditions. One pilgrim died at sea. An additional 46 of the 102 pilgrims died during the first year. Everyone was sick. Despite all that they had experienced in the previous year, they gave thanks.

For 14 years, they’d experienced religious persecution, cultural intolerance, physical trials, starvation and even death, yet they gave thanks. Coming off the most difficult year of nearly a decade and one-half of suffering, they gave thanks. They couldn’t imagine doing anything but giving thanks.

We would do well to embrace their perspective about life. The Bible reminds us that God constantly blesses us even when we are suffering. Paul challenges the early church and us, saying “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Th. 5:16-18).

We are all trying to “survive ‘08”. This is why we gave our annual stewardship drive the title of what we are doing. I have offered survival strategies in my sermons. I also suggest that the pilgrim’s model is a survival strategy. They gave thanks and so should we. Our challenges pale in comparison to the 14 years of tragedy that the pilgrims experienced.