Thankfulness? In 2020? Maybe we should just cancel Thanksgiving. Let’s not recount what happened. Let’s just forget it all. For what do we have to give thanks this year? Disease? Civil unrest? Political dissonance? Incompetence? Fear? Who could celebrate our collective worst year ever?
Let’s bring in our guest for today’s post. He’s a fictitious pilgrim. Let’s call him Bradford Williams. If you think 2020 was bad, then let’s compare it with 1620. Four hundred years ago, Brad and 101 of his friends disembarked from the Mayflower.
Comparing Death Rates
Brad, the pilgrim: I thank thee for inviting me.
Liam[1] from 2020: I see you are starting with thanks from the outset. Nice.
Brad, the pilgrim: And I thank God for His bountiful blessings—
Liam from 2020: Yes, yes. Let’s get to the point. 2020 has been a horrific year. A pandemic has circled the world, and the death rate is appalling. What was it like in 1620?
Brad, the pilgrim: I give thanks to the Lord that I survived, though my wife did not. The fatality rate among our party this year was 44%. Only fifty-seven of us survived until the feast day.[2]
Comparing Civil Unrest
Liam in 2020: 44%? Wow. That’s tough—at least you didn’t have to face civil unrest at the same time.
Brad, the pilgrim: Civil unrest? I pray thee, what is civil unrest?
Liam in 2020: Yes, you know, disunity among your fellow citizens. You Puritans all have the same beliefs and perspective so that brought you together in hard times.
Brad, the pilgrim: Actually, we are not all Puritans. The passengers on the Mayflower were not even all Christians. Just forty-one of us out of 102 on board were Puritans. We had to sign a governing document before setting foot in the new world just to keep the peace between us. As the governor wrote, “several strangers made discontented and mutinous speeches.”
Liam in 2020: Governing document? You mean the Mayflower Compact?
Brad, the pilgrim: I guess you could call it that.
Comparing World Leaders
Liam in 2020: Well, at least your government in England had a good leader, not like us here in 2020.
Brad, the pilgrim: A good leader? King James is a wicked man. Though we respect him as our rightful ruler, he’s one of the reasons we fled England for religious freedom in the new world.
Liam in 2020: But the King James Version of the Bible has his name on it!
Brad, the pilgrim: It’s only been ten years since the king authorized the new translation. The Geneva Bible is the Bible of our fathers.[3]
Comparing Risk of Violence
Liam in 2020: Well, the disease you faced in 1620 was worse than ours in 2020. Like us, you endured disturbing civil unrest—at least you did not have to fear violence in the pristine wilderness of New England. In 2020, we have riots in our cities. Murder rates are spiking. The suburbs, where I live, may soon be affected.
Brad, the pilgrim: Thank the Lord! He delivered us from our fears. We trembled as we disembarked. The native population outnumbered us. At first, we could not communicate with them. The difference between our cultures is vast, and there is ever a threat of misunderstandings leading to violence. Their arrows are swift and their blades sharp.
Liam in 2020: Really? So in 1620 when you arrived until November of 1621, you faced disease, death, disunity, and violence. Despite this, you held a feast, the first Thanksgiving ever? How could you be so thankful?
Brad, the pilgrim: Among the hardships of our first year, we saw the hand of our God. This land is a good land where we can freely worship our God. He has provided for our needs through our native friends who joined our feast. We have learned to survive in this rough wilderness. Almighty God hath taught us “in all thinges give thankes: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you” (1 Thess. 5:18; Geneva Bible).
Comparing Thanksgiving Feasts
Liam in 2020: Well, that is really spiritual. Let’s get to the important question. What did you all eat at the first Thanksgiving?
Brad, the pilgrim: The governor sent a few men to hunt fowl. They brought back our usual assortment of turkeys, ducks, geese, and swans. Our native friends brought some fish, lobster, oysters, and clams. We also harvested berries, grapes, cranberries, squash, corn, carrots, beans, onions, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and pumpkin.
Liam in 2020: Pumpkin pie is my favorite!
Brad the pilgrim: Actually, the sugar supply we brought on the Mayflower ran out months before.
Liam in 2020: So, no pie?
Brad, the pilgrim: No pie.
Comparing Reasons for Thanks
Liam in 2020: When you compare 2020 with 1620, I guess we have much for which give thanks today. If the pilgrims in much worse conditions could launch the first Thanksgiving, we today can give thanks to God for what He has done, despite the trials and inconveniences of 2020. One thing is clear—our Thanksgiving food is much better today than in 1621. And for that, I am thankful.
What are some ways God has blessed you in 2020? How can you give thanks today?
Photo credit: my wife, taken at Point Pelee in Ontario, Canada
[1] Liam is the most popular boys name in 2019 and 2020.
[2] The epidemic that killed many of the pilgrims and obliterated the native population is believed to have been leptospirosis. Like COVID-19, this disease passed from animals to humans, in this case through rat urine.
[3] It is thought that John Alden may have brought a King James Bible with him, but the rest of the pilgrims preferred the older Geneva Bible.
