Psalm 95:1-3 (ESV)
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a
joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a
joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great
King above all gods.
On the fourth Thursday of November, Americans celebrate
Thanksgiving, a national holiday honoring the early settlers and their harvest
feast known as the first Thanksgiving.
Long before settlers came to the East Coast of the United
States, the area was inhabited by many Native American tribes. The area
surrounding the site of the first Thanksgiving, now known as southeastern Massachusetts
and eastern Rhode Island had been the home of the Wampanoag people for over
12,000 years, and had been visited by other European settlers before the
arrival of the Mayflower. The native people knew the land well and had fished,
hunted, and harvested for thousands of generations.
The people who comprised the Plymouth Colony were a group
of English Protestants who wanted to break away from the Church of England.
These ‘separatists’ initially moved to Holland and after 12 years of financial
problems, they received funding from English merchants to sail across the
Atlantic to settle in a ‘New World.' A ship carrying 101 men, women, and
children spent 66 days traveling the Atlantic Ocean, intending to land where
New York City is now located. Due to the windy conditions, the group had to cut
their trip short and settle at what is now called Cape Cod.
As the Puritans prepared for winter, they gathered
anything they could find, including Wampanoag supplies.
One day, Samoset, a leader of the Abenaki, and Tisquantum
(better known as Squanto) visited the settlers. Squanto was a Wampanoag who had
experience with other settlers and knew English. Squanto helped the settlers
grow corn and use fish to fertilize their fields. After several meetings, a
formal agreement was made between the settlers and the native people and they
joined together to protect each other from other tribes in March of 1621.
One day that fall, four settlers were sent to hunt for
food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag heard gunshots and alerted their
leader, Massasoit, who thought the English might be preparing for war.
Massasoit visited the English settlement with 90 of his men to see if the war
rumor was true.
Soon after their
visit, the Native Americans realized that the English were only hunting for the
harvest celebration. Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the
feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate
together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, far
from today's traditional Thanksgiving feast.
Although prayers and thanks were probably offered at the
1621 harvest gathering, the first recorded religious Thanksgiving Day in
Plymouth happened two years later in 1623. On this occasion, the colonists gave
thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought.
Dear Lord, on Thanksgiving Day we bow our hearts to You.
We give You thanks for all You’ve done especially for the gift of Jesus, Your
Son. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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