The Pilgrim Proclamation

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forest to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now, I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all you Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at your meeting house, on the hill between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th of the year of our Lord, one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, in the third year since you Pilgrims landed on Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to your pastor and render thanksgiving to your Almighty God for all His blessings.

William Bradford

Governor of Plymouth Colony

Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

William Bradford's words still speak to an eternal truth nearly four hundred years after the were proclaimed: our need to offer thanks to God. In 1623, Bradford was only three years past those desperate early days when half of The Mayflower's passengers had died, yet he understood that need and started what is arguably our most meaningful national holiday with that first Thanksgiving Day.

We too gather together, despite whatever difficulties may be in our lives, to say "Thank you" to the Creator. We offer our prayers, engage in loving laughter, feast on turkey and pie, and for one brief day, live in a place of gratitude. Sometimes though, it is difficult to fully embrace Thanksgiving Day because empty seats at the table remind us of loved ones who have passed and no longer join with us to share in the moment. While painful, like the early Pilgrims, who lost half their number during the voyage to the New World, we need to life up those empty places and number the among all His blessings.

May God's grace and abundant blessings in our loves be recognized and gratefully accepted.

In faith,

Barry