Calvin Synod Herald, 2011 (112. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)

2011-11-01 / 11-12. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

11

promote violence, or harm to others, we are free to disagree, and speak out against anyone with opposing beliefs.

Some of you may also be wondering why I haven't used the term "Pilgrim" when discussing the Mayflower, and the Puritan Colony. The term "Pilgrim," even though it appears in William Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plantation," it was not generally used by the Pilgrims to describe themselves; it only came into popular usage in the 1840's in the wake of a wave of enthusiasm for the settlers of Plymouth. The word "Pilgrim," which means, "One who journeys to a foreign and distant and strange land," appears to have been used in the sense that "these Puritan Separatists were pilgrims and strangers coming to a strange land."

William Bradford has been called "the father of American History" because of his book, "Of Plymouth Plantation." His story tells the story of the Pilgrims from the time of their persecution in England until 1646. It is the main source of our knowledge of the Pilgrims.

William Bradford, in his writings tells how the weary immigrants, making safe harbor on the desolate shore of Cape Cod, "Fell upon their knees and blessed ye God of heaven, who had brought them over ye vast and furious ocean." Then in a sermon preached in 1630 on the ship Arbella, bound from Southampton to Boston with Puritan immigrants, John Winthrop, founder of the Massachusetts Bay settlement, reminded his hearers that

"The God of Israel is among us....He shall make us a praise and

glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: 'The Lord make it like that of New England."

William Bradford and John Winthrop and other men of intense spiritual conviction were representative of the considerable number of 17th century Englishmen unwilling to compromise their spiritual beliefs with the Church of England. Their desire was to build a new home where they could serve the God of the Bible, and raise their children in the same beliefs and lifestyle.

From Governor William Bradford's decree for the first Thanksgiving Celebration, consisting of three days which were to be set aside for the special purpose of prayer as well as celebration, to the traditional Thanksgiving Day of today has been quite an evolution. However the concept has always remained the same, it is a national day of thankfulness to Almighty God for His bountiful blessings bestowed upon us as a nation, and as a people.

The custom of Thanksgiving Day spread from Plymouth to other New England colonies. During the War for Independence (the Revolutionary War), eight special days of thanks were observed for victories and for being delivered from dangers.

On November 26, 1789, Present George Washington issued a general proclamation for a special day of thanks. This is what he said, "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of these United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many single favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.' Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday

the 26th day of November next to be devoted to the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the Beneficient Author of all the good that was, that is, and that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the single and manifold mercies, and the favorable interposition of his providence, which we experience in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best." (This was taken from the writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscripts Sources by John C. Fitzpatrick; 1745-1799, 39 Vol. Government Printing Office, 1931-1944.)

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November, 1863 as "A day of thanksgiving and praise to our Beneficient Father."

Each year afterward for 75 years, the President of the United States formally proclaimed that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. But then the ugly face of liberalism, humanism, and secularism began to show its destructive force on the public scene. In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Thanksgiving one week earlier. Reason? He wanted to help business by lengthening the shopping period before Christmas. Congress finally ruled in 1941 that the fourth Thursday of November would be observed as Thanksgiving Day and would be a legal federal holiday.

The point I want to make is this: the original reason for those first Puritan settlers to celebrate a Thanksgiving Day was to give thanks to Almighty God for His goodness, grace and bountiful provision. Today it has become just another government holiday for people to have an excuse to get out of work, and to start their Christmas shopping sooner.

But every Christian should know and realize that the Bible does tell us to set aside time to give thanks to Almighty God for His great and fantastic blessings to each one of us. I Thessalonians 5:16-18; "Be joyful always; Pray continually; GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834- 1892), the great 19th century pastor and Bible teacher writes,