1. A legacy of self-government. When the Pilgrims and their fellow travelers on the Mayflower realized they were landing outside the Colony of Virginia, and therefore its English laws, they entered into the Mayflower Compact to “covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick.”In the Mayflower Compact, the seeds of American independence, liberty and constitutionalism first took root.
2. A legacy of family life. Industry and cooperation were hallmarks of Pilgrim communities, as fathers and mothers desperately worked to create homes for their children.
3. A legacy of obedience to conscience.
4. A legacy of charitable service. William Bradford’s historical account records that as devastating sickness spread among them, the few who remained healthy “spared no pains night or day, but with great toil and at the risk of their own health … did all the homely and necessary services for them; and all this they did willingly and cheerfully without the least grudging, showing their love to their friends and brethren.” They also cared for the Mayflower sailors, many of whom had been contemptuous of the religious fervor of the Separatist pilgrims. As one particularly abusive sailor confessed to his caretakers, “You, I see now, show your love like Christians indeed to one another; but we let one another lie and die like dogs.”
5. A legacy of individual responsibility.
6. A legacy of consecrating for posterity. Unlike a host of other Europeans who came to the Americas seeking worldly fortune, the Pilgrims came seeking hope for a better future. They sacrificed the familiarity and comforts of their homelands to create a new way of life for their children and for the generations to come, knowing that the fruits of their labors would not be realized in this life.
7. A legacy of Thanksgiving. After reaching landfall, the Pilgrims “fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof.” Even as half their number died during the first winter, they continued to recognize a divine providence, including in the life-saving assistance of Tisquantum (or Squanto) who taught them how to cultivate native crops and where to hunt and fish. As every school child learns, the Pilgrims celebrated the blessings of their bounteous first harvest in a feast with the neighboring Wampanoag tribe. Their humble expressions of gratitude have inspired generations to reflect upon the blessings of God to His children and to give Him thanks.
(https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2020/11/28/21719479/guest-opinion-pilgrims-thanksgiving-heritage-mayflower-self-government-responsibility-posterity-1620, Jenet and Michael Erickson)
No comments:
Post a Comment