How many of us will eat a traditional turkey, or tofurkey, dinner next Thursday? Why? Because in 1620 the Mayflower sailed from England carrying Pilgrim men and women looking for a place in which to practice their religious beliefs freely, an event which led to a meal in Plymouth, Massachusetts? Here is a part of the account of that occasion written by William Bradford, one of the men who sailed on the Mayflower.
“So there died sometimes two or three a day and of 100 and odd persons scarce 50 remained. And of these, in the times of most distress, there was but six or seven sound persons who, to their great commendations be it spoken, spared no pains, night or day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, fetched wood, made them fires, dressed their meat, made their beds, washed their loathsome clothes, clothed and unclothed them – in a word, did all the homely and necessary offices from them which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named. And all this willingly and cheerfully. . . . Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men out fowling that we might, after a more special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labors. These four, in one day, killed as much fowl as, with a little help besides, served the company almost a week, at which time, amongst other recreations we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us. And amongst the rest, their greatest King, Massasoit, and some ninety men, whom, for three days, we entertained and feasted. And they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the Plantation, and bestowed on our Governor and on the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet, by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish others partakers of our plenty.” What else did they eat, do you think? SEAFOOD: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster; WILD FOWL: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles; MEAT: Venison, Seal; GRAIN: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn; VEGETABLES: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots; FRUIT: Plums, Grapes; NUTS: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns; HERBS and SEASONINGS: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips.
The pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers. They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food. Salt would have been on the table at the harvest feast, and people would have sprinkled it on their food. Pepper, however, was something that they used for cooking but wasn't available on the table. In the seventeenth century, a person's social standing determined what he or she ate. The best food was placed next to the most important people. People didn't tend to sample everything that was on the table (as we do today), th ey just ate what was closest to them. Pilgrims didn't eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of foods were placed on the table at the same time and people ate in any order they chose. Sometimes there were two courses, but each of them would contain both meat dishes, puddings, and sweets.
We call this the first Thanksgiving, but the feast wasn't repeated, so it wasn't really the beginning of our ongoing Thanksgiving tradition. In fact, the pilgrims didn't even call the day Thanksgiving. To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast--dancing, singing secular songs, playing games--wouldn't have been allowed. Nor did the date correlate to when we celebrate Thanksgiving now. The original feast in 1621 occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11. The event was based on English harvest festivals, which traditionally occurred around the 29th of September. Only in the 20th century did President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Our holiday date does, however, have a connection with the Pilgrims, as we know from Abraham Lincoln, who designated it as the last Thursday in November, because that date may have corresponded with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod.
Anyway, that’s part of the account from a pilgrim perspective. What do the Wampanoags say about that first Thanksgiving? In 1970, at the commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Plymouth, the Wampanoags selected Frank James to represent them with a speech. As it turns out, James was not allowed to give that speech because the officials didn’t like what he would have said. Here are some excerpts from it. “Today is a time of celebrating for you. . . but it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People. . . The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors and stolen their corn, wheat and beans. . . . Massasoit, the great leader of the Wampanoag, knew these facts; yet he and his People welcomed and befriended the settlers. . . , little knowing that . . . before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoags. . . and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them.. . . Although our way of life is almost gone and our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still walk the lands of Massachusetts. . . What has happened cannot be changed, but today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important.” It’s painful, yet important, to hear both sides of this story.
Does it mean we should not celebrate Thanksgiving? No. As Frank James said, we can use the story to build a better America. As we have seen, the Thanksgiving holiday is something we have created in this country as we went along. There’s something about a harvest celebration and setting aside a special day to come together and feast on the bounty of the earth and to recognize that without one another we cannot survive and to express our gratitude for all of it. It’s about abundance and gratitude, just as that first feast shared by the Wampanoags and the pilgrims is about abundance and gratitude and giving thanks and thanks-giving. The story20of the “first” Thanksgiving, even though it happened only once and even though it happened perhaps in September, carries powerful reverberations in our psyche. Abundance from the earth and from other human beings and gratitude as the response to it. Something in our souls recognizes this and wants to take part in it.
Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks and a time for giving – “thanks!” Neither is as simple as it sounds. We may not feel particularly grateful for the circumstances of our lives. or we may feel very blessed, and perhaps a little guilty that we have it good when so many others do not. Edna St. Vincent Millay expresses both sides in this excerpt from A Poem for Thanksgiving.
Hard, hard it is, this anxious autumn To lift the heavy mind from its dark forebodings; To sit at the bright feast, and with ruddy cheer Give thanks for the harvest of a troubled year.
How do we do this? Perhaps the bridge between despair and satisfaction lies in a deeper experience of gratitude, a deeper expression of it. A discovery of abundance, especially when it seems hidden.
Giving thanks, finding abundance, expressing and feeling gratitude has at least three parts: the ethical, the spiritual, the practical, or material, which is the one we are most familiar with. I give thanks for this food, for this company, for my health, etc. For what I have. Gratitude, however, has more weight than that. “ . . . (it) is a universal human experience that can be either a random occurrence of grace or an attitude chosen to create a better life.” (Robert Emmons and Joanna Hill) Gratitude serves as a response to the interconnected nature of all life, person to person, species to species, species to earth. Abundance lies within the interconnections. Think of Buy Nothing Day, next Saturday. Literally -- buy20nothing. Come here, where people have brought quality items with the express purpose of leaving them for others to take away and to enjoy. Take them, in a spirit of re-gifting. Someone has gifted you with them, and now you can give them away again. Or use them as a gift to yourself. No money changes hands. On Buy Nothing Day there’s plenty of abundance because people give to one another. What an opportunity for gratitude.
In its spiritual aspect, gratitude stirs us with the joy of abundance. With the joy of that surprise birthday party in October, when so many of you came together to surprise me, (and it was-- completely) I felt such abundance and such gratitude. With the joy of Wampanoags giving the pilgrims seeds and showing them how to cultivate and plant so that they could grow their own food. Gratitude is not about counting our blessings as though somehow we deserve what we have. It is about recognizing how deeply we are embedded in each other, how much we need one another and celebrating the connections. Gratitude requires humility, awe, and compassion.
Gratitude stirs us with the power of f orgiveness. Why did Massasoit choose to celebrate with the pilgrims when he knew they had robbed the graves of his people? Obviously I don’t have an answer, but it seems to me that peace has to start somewhere, with someone putting aside the grudge and beginning anew. An offering of abundance does not deny or gloss over the bad things, but rather it enables us, even in the midst of hurt and disappointment, of great pain and suffering, not to forget that something in our lives goes well, or could go well. I have heard many of you say that you feel most connected here when you find a way to give that works for you. The very act of giving is an act of gratitude.
In its ethical aspect, gratitude stirs us to acts of generosity. Theologian Howard Thurman wrote, “I remember with gratitude the fruits of the labors of others, which I have shared as a part of the normal experience of daily living.” Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed out in a Christmas sermon that the world presents itself to us even as we eat breakfast. Tea from India, coffee from Central America or Africa, jam from France, orange juice from Brazil. Without one another we do not survive. There is a blessing which I sometimes say at meals, that begins This food is the gift of the whole universe: the earth, the sky and much hard work. Countless beings gave their labor and even their lives that we may eat. Let us accept this food that in turn we may nurture life. W.E.B. DuBois noted, “. . . let us ever remember that true gratitude and appreciation shows itself neither in independence nor satisfaction but passes the gift joyfully on in larger and better form.” Abundance is not measured by what flows in, but by what flows over. (David Steindl-Rast).
In the past month I have received numerous calls from people asking if our congregation could help pay their bills, pay their rent, give them food, find an apartment, find a job. It feels overwhelming. And it’s a sign of the times we live in. The societal cracks that a few people fell through have widened into chasms. What can we, might we, should we do about this? How can we use our gratitude and abundance and give birth to acts of generosity? How can we pass the gift on in larger and better form? Could we keep a list of the people in our congregation who have or know of rooms and/or apartments for rent and refer people to them? Could we keep some non-perishable food here to give out on an emergency basis? Could we set up a special fund to help people in the wider community who find themselves in desperate circumstances, similar to the minister’s discretionary fund, which is used to help members and friends of this congregation? Could we take special collections each month? I would like to brainstorm ideas and possibilities with two or three people and then take some action, so if you have an interest, please let me know. I want to show gratitude by passing it along as generosity. I want to show gratitude for what I have been given by giving to others.
Thus Thanksgiving holds out for us a special time when we can experience gratitude on a deeper level and when we can discover, or re-discover, abundance in our connections. It offers us a time to give. This year when we sit down to whatever meal we have, perhaps we will say thanks for the material things in front of us. Let us also say thanks with our actions towards each other, far and near. May we experience the joy of each other’s generosity and may we ever strive to share our gifts with others. May our gratitude be an attitude chosen to make a better life. May we keep the spirit of that 1621 celebration of thanks for the harvest, thanks for the help. May it be so. Happy Thanksgiving.