The Story of Thanksgiving

It was 1620 when 102 people, today called Pilgrims, boarded two ships, the Mayflower and Speedwell. They set sail from England. After 64 days with no land in sight, they finally spotted the "New World."

Only one of two ships leaving England reached the New World, so they immediately had lost many of their people. They had hoped to arrive in time to plant and harvest a crop, but they arrived too late in the year. They landed badly off course, and didn't even have the authority to form a colony where they were.

Their health was in general poor, they didn't have much to eat. Their shelter was not adequate for protection from the harsh weather. They were attacked from time to time by the native people, and they were in a new land that was very foreign to them.

As they came out of winter, more than three-fourths of the children were dead. Their total number stood at about one-quarter of those who had set sail from England.

Think about that. Think of some group of about 200 that you have been in. Visualize some of those people deciding to never start the journey, some of those families that did are now gone completely. Imagine your own family having lost one-half to three-fourths of the children.

One year later, after enduring an extremely harsh winter, deadly disease, not enough food and many other severe hardships, the group of surviving colonists got together to review where they were, what they had left and what had been accomplished.

As the leaders reviewed, everything appeared pretty grim. Then someone began to say, "Yes, all that is all so. We can hang our heads and say 'Oh woe for us', or we can have the attitude that we made a decision, we are here, let's look again and let's look for some good things, and let's make the best of what we have. Let's be thankful, let's be joyful, and let's make this grand adventure work out."

In other words, they realized that we can focus on the good; we can see the glass as "half full" instead of seeing it as "half empty" or maybe in their case, "mostly empty". Initially, there was fear and grumbling. Then another voice chimed in and said "Yes, let us give thanks for what we have left. Another agreed and said "Yes, let's be thankful," and another "Yes, let's find the good."

They decided to make a list, a NEW list. This time, only those things that were GOOD could be on the list (they realized the list they had before, they had been "looking at"/focusing on the BAD). Between all of them, they came up with over 100 good things.

Wow !! What a surprise!!!!! The FACTS had not changed, only their FOCUS and the ways they looked at those facts. They decided to take more action in this new direction, to help make it "stick," if you will.

That decision to focus on what they had that was GOOD - to focus and build upon what they DID have - marked a turning point for the surviving colonists.

In time, with hard work, the "grace of God" and help from the native Americans, their colony flourished and lead the way to creating the foundations of the democracy and religious freedoms that Americans enjoy today.

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