Thankful For Much

With the passage of time, the holidays begin to take on a different look. When I was a kid, the Thanksgiving was a day of wonderful smells and delicious food. That is one Thanksgiving tradition that hasn’t changed, but probably the only one. Those childhood Thanksgivings included my parents, Al and Collene Spencer, as well as my four sisters, one of whom, Alena Stevens, lives in Heaven now with Mom and Dad and others who have gone home. Of course, with Mom and Dad in Heaven, Thanksgiving is normally spent with our own families, because my sisters and I have families that have become too big to put in one house. Nevertheless, we connect via text messages, and we are all thankful for those who are still with us, while always missing those who are in Heaven. While things have changed over the years, we will always have much to be thankful for, because with each new year come new blessings. As new family members join us, either through marriage or birth, we realize that we are growing and we are so very blessed by each and every new member. Some have moved away, and we miss them very much too, and pray that their day is blessed as well. As our family grows, it also changes, with each new member being different than the others, but nevertheless, just as precious. It makes me think of how Thanksgiving got started in the first place.

Thanksgiving started, of course, when the pilgrims, who had suffered a hard time in the new land, gathered with the Wampanoag Indians, who had become their friends. Most of us would have imagined a big party where the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Tribe came together to celebrate new friendships, but that’s not quite how it happened. Many in the Wampanoag, along with the entire Patuxet Tribe, had died from smallpox. To make matters worse, the Pilgrims were on the brink of starvation. They didn’t know much about farming, and between the smallpox, harsh winter, and lack of food, they were in serious trouble. With the help of the Wampanoag, however, they found they had many reasons to be truly thankful. The Wampanoag people were vital to the Pilgrims’ survival, forging a peace treaty that set the stage for a complicated relationship between the two communities.

The Wampanoag Confederacy, led by Chief Massasoit, lived in what is now southeastern Massachusetts. When the Pilgrims landed on the Mayflower in November 1620, they faced a brutal winter and had trouble setting up their settlement in Plymouth Colony. The Wampanoag had already been severely reduced by diseases brought by earlier European explorers, wiping out up to 90% of their population between 1615 and 1619. This situation paved the way for the Pilgrims to depend on the Wampanoag for survival. No wonder the two very different peoples came together to celebrate their friendship and their survival. It serves as a reminder that even though we have survived hardship and loss, we are strong and with God’s help, we will persevere and yes, even succeed in our lives. It is something to be very thankful for.