177 Sermon Illustrations on Thanksgiving

The Hart and the Hunter, Aesop's Fables

The Hart was once drinking from a pool and admiring the noble figure he made there. "Ah," said he, "where can you see such noble horns as these, with such antlers! I wish I had legs more worthy to bear such a noble crown; it is a pity they are so slim and slight." At that moment a Hunter approached and sent an arrow whistling after him. Away bounded the Hart, and soon, by the aid of his nimble legs, was nearly out of sight of the Hunter; but not noticing where he was going, he passed under some trees with branches growing low down in which his antlers were caught, so that the Hunter had time to come up. "Alas! alas!" cried the Hart:

"We often despise what is most useful to us." Likewise, some of God's greatest blessing are despised instead of praised.

There are no Thanksgiving traditions about fourteen year old John Hooke. No songs, no poems, no pilgrim lore. Yet of all the long forgotten stories from the original 102 people aboard the Mayflower in 1620, maybe this is one we ought to remember.

When John Hooke's father died, his mother signed an apprenticeship agreement with a tailor, a man named Isaac Allerton. This arrangement meant John was under the tutelage of Mr. Allerton, a master who would show him a trade, provide food and clothing, and teach him about religion and faith.

The faith and religion lessons turned out to be the most difficult. Allerton and his family were among those on the two month trip across the Atlantic on the Mayflower, a voyage the passengers clearly understood as a pilgrimage for a more perfect faith and the freedom to live it.

John Hooke lived long enough to die that first brutal winter in Plymouth. He was one of many who suffered. Three days before land was sighted another young boy had died. Isaac Allerton's wife, Mary, gave birth to a stillborn son. Another woman gave birth just after landfall, naming the child Peregrine, meaning “one who journeys to foreign lands.”

Abraham Lincoln wrote in his proclamation of Thanksgiving as a National Holiday in 1863, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.”

How right Mr. Lincoln was, and is. Accustomed to the blessings of this world, it's easy to lose a spirit of thankfulness and lose touch with the spirit of Thanksgiving.

HIS GIFT IS THAT HE REMINDS ME OF HOW RICH I AM.

When I was John Hooke's age, I was singing, “Over the river and through the woods...” On my fourteenth Thanksgiving Day I was eating extra pie, waiting for the Dallas Cowboys, warming by the fire, or jumping in a pile of leaves. That's just what a kid does the fourth Thursday in November. Here's the “Thanksgiving Hooke,” the peace we enjoy as kids, innocently growing up in a land of freedom, largely unfamiliar with pilgrim sufferings, those who died and those who lived.

We give thanks this week. The sacrifice of so many. The bounty of Heaven. The love of family. The blessings of a gracious God.

And the gift of Pilgrims and an apprentice boy. Though we know of no significant contribution John Hooke made to the Mayflower mission he has made a great offering to our point of view. While he did not sign the Mayflower Compact, and he likely had no choice but to board that boat, John Hooke provides an ocean of perspective.

His brief life calls us to search our hearts for a heaping measure of sacrifice and an extra helping of thankfulness.

Here's one more Thanksgiving Hooke: The Biblical word most like the old English concept of apprentice is “disciple.” Will we attach ourselves to a master teacher, learn his ways, go where He goes, suffer for His Name, journey with Him to another land in faith?

Will we be pilgrims? Will we be apprentices of Jesus? Maybe it's enough today to ask, “Will we be thankful?”

*

[Original illustration at this number was deleted as obsolete]

Subject: Remembering to Say "Thank You!"

Date: For the Week of January 17, 2000

When Peter Cummings was a little boy, his mother told him how important it was to write thank-you notes. So it became second nature to him. And when he became chairman of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1998, he began writing personal notes to anyone contributing $500 or more to the orchestra.

His habit made news recently. When Mary Webber Parker donated $50,000 to the orchestra, Cummings sat down and composed a note to her. Two weeks later, she wrote back and promised another $50,000. Cummings wrote her again. The upshot of the exchanges was a donation of $500,000 a year for five years a most generous $2.5 million boon to the arts in Detroit.

All of us who have had mothers or mentors have been taught life's "little things" by them. But we tend to lose sight of them as we grow up, pursue our adult life goals, and focus on life's big things. We neglect them. Life grows a bit coarser. And we grump about today's young people and their lack of civility and good manners.

There's nobody to blame but ourselves. Quit pointing fingers at teenagers. Don't scold your own children or grandchildren. Instead, pay attention to the little things that collectively compose and define life. A good beginning point is gratitude.

Make it a point to today to thank someone for something. Whether a person you know well or a stranger you are likely never to see again, respond to the man or woman who renders you a service, helps you with a project, or makes your world a bit more pleasant with a smile. Don't do it in hopes of getting a Peter Cummings-like reward for being considerate or appreciative. Do it simply because it is right.

Does your wife or your husband start the morning coffee? Do you work for a good boss or have a loyal assistant? Do you like the way the laundry does your shirts? Do the people who service your car do it well? Does your Sunday School teacher do a good job with the class? Then say so to that person. Or tell that person's supervisor or his or her company president about it.

Even if you do nothing more than smile and nod to someone who holds a door for you or say thanks to the postman or UPS driver who delivers something to you, that moment of contact builds community. It affirms another human being. It connects two people who may never know each other's names.

Or maybe as with Peter Cummings there will be a reward in it for you. It could even be something more valuable than money. You could make a friend or become a partner with God in nourishing a soul made in his own image.

By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation.

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 the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal 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 by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or 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 signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed -- for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled 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 national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a 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 shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord -- To promote the 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.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

-- George Washington

*

[Original illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #18680]

The first American Thanksgiving didn't occur in 1621 when a group of

Pilgrims shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians. The first

recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years

earlier, and it wasn't a feast. The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had

reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60. The survivors prayed for help,

without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived, in the

form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer

meeting was held to give thanks to God. Today in the Word, July, 1990,

p. 22

A lady was on a lake steamer when her little girl fell overboard, and she was almost frantic. A gentleman on the boat had a large Newfoundland dog. The dog was directed to leap into the water and save the child. He did so and swam ashore with the little girl, part of her dress in his mouth, I suppose. The mother seized her saved child, and kissed her again and again. Then turning to the dog, she hugged and kissed that dog, with a heart full of gratitude to the animal.

That's more than some people have ever done for Jesus Christ, although He hung on the cross to save them from sin and hell.

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

#9923

*

There was a trifling accident to a railway train one day, which

caused an hour's delay. One lady on the train was greatly excited. The

detention would cause her to miss the steamer, and her friends would

be disappointed in the morning when she should fail to arrive. That

night the steamer on which she so eagerly wished to embark was burned

to the water's edge, and nearly all on board perished. Her feeling of

grieved disappointment was changed to one of grateful praise to God

for the strange deliverance he had wrought. A carriage drove rapidly

to a station one afternoon, just as the train rolled away; it

contained a gentleman and his family. They manifested much annoyance

and impatience at the failure to be in time. Important engagements for

tomorrow could not now be met. Sharp words were spoken to the

coachman; for the fault was his, as he had been ten minutes late in

appearing. An angry scowl was on the gentleman's face as he drove

homeward again. All the evening he was sullen and unhappy. In the next

morning's papers he read an account of a terrible bridge accident on

the railway. The train he had been so anxious to take, and so annoyed

at missing, had carried many of its sleeping passengers to a horrible

death. The feeling of bitter vexation and sullen anger instantly

changed to one of thanksgiving. In both these cases the goodness of

God was shown in not suffering his children to do what they considered

essential to their happiness or success. -- Miller.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

Thank you. Two words that indicate recognition and express appreciation of a kindness received from a source outside of ourselves. Thus it was in 1621 that the Pilgrims took time out from the busy task of survival to offer a “thank you” to the ultimate outside source -- God.

While I am sure they were appreciative to the natives who had befriended them, the first English settlers -- in what would come to be known as America -- paused for several days of feasting, reflection and prayer dedicated to God. They celebrated his goodness, they remembered his faithfulness and they expressed with their lips a harmonious “thank you.”

Despite the best efforts of some to paint the first thanksgiving with a politically correct brush, the Indians were not the focus of the Pilgrims' gratitude. The Native Americans were included in the feast and recognized for their assistance to be sure, but it was God who was supremely “thanked.” The fruits of the earth were enjoyed, but Mother Nature was never mentioned during the days of thanksgiving.

In a letter dated Dec. 12, 1621, Edward Winslow described the Pilgrims' three days of celebration. One phrase in the letter -- sprinkled with references and praise to God -- is most poignant. It reads, “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 you partakers of our plenty.”

In the 381 years since that first “thanksgiving,” our nation has many times followed the example set by the Pilgrims. In 1777 the Continental Congress declared December 18 to be a national “day of solemn Thanksgiving and praise” in response to a victory during the revolution. George Washington proclaimed Nov. 26, 1789 to be “to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of the Almighty...”

It was Abraham Lincoln who, in 1863, proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be a national Thanksgiving Day for a year full of blessings. In the proclamation the president wrote: “The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.”

Each of Lincoln's successors followed his lead and proclaimed Thanksgiving Day the final Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. Thus, following in the noble example of the Pilgrims, America has sought to honor God annually with a day of Thanksgiving.

In the past four decades, there has been a concerted effort to expunge any reference to God from public life. Prayer in school, the Pledge of Allegiance and displays of the Ten Commandments have raised the ire of those who are “offended” by any utterance of God's name in connection with a government facility. Given time, Thanksgiving and Christmas will join the “hit list.” These holidays, dedicated wholly to the worship of a particular deity, will be forced to conform to sterile politically correct standards or they too will be vehemently attacked.

Before the meaning of Thanksgiving is neutered and the reality of Christmas is castrated, may those who care about the heritage of our nation consider the words of President John Adams, who wrote: “[T]hat [the citizen] shall call to mind our numerous offenses against the Most High God, confess them before him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions, and that through the grace of his Holy Spirit we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to his righteous requisitions in time to come...” (Thanksgiving Proclamation -- March 6, 1799).

_____________

Boggs is pastor of Valley Baptist Church, McMinnville, Oregon.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1549]

Throughout history, the sight of armed soldiers has always terrified civilians. Soldiers almost always meant an orgy of looting, pillaging, rape, and even murder.

That was certainly the case at the end of World War II. Historian Stephen Ambrose, writing in the WALL STREET JOURNAL, notes that, at war's end, "The most terrifying sight to most civilians was a squad of armed teenage boys in uniform." Whether it was the Red Army in Warsaw, the Japanese in Manila, or the Germans in Holland, this sight meant trouble.

There was one exception to this tragic rule. "Everywhere in the world," Ambrose writes, "whether in France, Belgium, the Philippines, Germany, or Japan, the sight of a twelve-man squad of GIs brought joy to peoples' hearts." Why? "Because the sight of those American kids meant cigarettes, candy, c-rations, and freedom. They had come not to conquer or terrorize but to liberate."

What made those American soldiers so different, even from their European counterparts who shared a common western and Christian heritage?

What made them different was a commitment to and a love for a set of ideals. These were the classic ideas of the American founders.

Unlike other nations, American identity is not based on ethnicity or geography. It's based on a moral proposition. This proposition comes straight from the faded and yellowed document: The DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

When I went into the Marine Corps, this is what I was willing to die for, and this is what being an American has meant to GIs through the years. This belief, in turn, has shaped the way GIs treated civilians -- even in enemy countries. After all, how can you terrorize men and women when you are fighting to protect the life and liberty of every human being?

Sadly, in the past twenty years, Americans have weakened in their commitment to principles contained in our founding documents. Our nation has begun to systematically exclude entire classes of people from its guarantees.

We've excluded those waiting to be born. We've excluded people with handicaps like Downs syndrome. Through physician-assisted suicide, we've begun to exclude the elderly and the infirm. Today, many are proposing that we add to this tragic list: Through cloning, they want to create human life only to destroy it.

If we continue down this road, I have to ask myself: Will American GIs in some future conflict be as welcome as those who liberated Europe after World War II, or those who more recently unshackled Afghanistan? And will those troops have the same respect and compassion for the innocent?

It's something to ponder with thoughts of Memorial Day still fresh in our minds. This week BreakPoint will continue to focus on the theme of Memorial Day, remembering those who have gone before us and served. So why not take a moment with your family to discuss the moral truths that lie behind the holiday, that have motivated our GIs over the years -- truths that have guarded the innocent in ages past and, God willing, will guard them in the future?

For further reading:

Michael Novak, ON TWO WINGS: HUMBLE FAITH AND COMMON SENSE AT THE AMERICAN FOUNDING (Encounter, 2002).

You can read the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (4 July 1776) at the National Archives and Records Administration Website:

_________________________

Updated May 28, 2002. Copyright © 2002 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. 'BreakPoint with Chuck Colson' is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Why did only one cleansed leper return to thank Jesus? The following are nine suggested reasons why the nine did not return:

One waited to see if the cure was real.

One waited to see if it would last.

One said he would see Jesus later.

One decided that he had never had leprosy.

One said he would have gotten well anyway.

One gave the glory to the priests.

One said, “O, well, Jesus didn't really do anything.”

One said, “Any rabbi could have done it.”

One said, “I was already much improved.”

__________

Charles L. Brown, The Newsletter Newsletter, June 1990, Page 3.

*

[Original illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #3641]

Governor Bradford of Massachusetts made this first Thanksgiving

Proclamation three years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth:

"Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant

harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden

vegetables, and has made the forests 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 ye Pilgrims, with your

wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye 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 and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock,

there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty

God for all His blessings." --William Bradford

Thanksgiving Day in the United States is an annual day of thanks for the blessings of the past year, observed on the fourth Thursday in November in each of the states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. It is a historical, national, and religious holiday that began with the Pilgrims. After the survival of their first colony through the bitter winter, and the gathering of the harvest, Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth Colony issued a thanksgiving proclamation in the autumn of 1621. This first thanksgiving lasted three days, during which the Pilgrims feasted on wild turkey and venison with their Indian guests.

Days of thanksgiving were celebrated sporadically until, on Nov. 26, 1789, President Washington issued a proclamation of a nationwide day of thanksgiving. He made it clear that the day should be one of prayer and giving thanks to God. It was to be celebrated by all religious denominations, a circumstance that helped to promote a spirit of common heritage.

Credit for establishing this day as a national holiday is usually given to Sarah J. Hale, editor and founder of the Ladies' Magazine (from 1828) in Boston. Her editorials in the magazine and letters to President Lincoln urging the formal establishment of a national holiday of thanksgiving resulted in Lincoln's proclamation in 1863, designating the last Thursday in November as the day. Succeeding presidents annually followed his example, except for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1939 proclaimed Thanksgiving Day a week earlier -- on the fourth but not the last Thursday -- to encourage holiday shopping. In 1941, Congress adopted a joint resolution setting the date on the fourth Thursday.

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner takes place yearly at the White House and in almost every American home. Roast turkey and pumpkin pie are among the symbols of this festival. An ancient harvest symbol, the cornucopia, or “horn of plenty,” has also been attached to Thanksgiving. Schools and businesses close for this day of family reunion and national, rather than individual, giving of thanks.

In Canada a legal Thanksgiving Day is observed, usually on the second Monday in October.

In his book FOLK PSALMS OF FAITH, Ray Stedman tells of an experience H. A. Ironside had in a crowded restaurant. Just as Ironside was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Ironside invited him to have a seat. Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer.

When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, “Do you have a headache?” Ironside replied, “No, I don’t.” The other man asked, “Well, is there something wrong with your food?” Ironside responded, “No, why?” “Well,” the man said, “I saw you sitting there with your head down and I thought you must be sick, or that there was something wrong with your food.” Ironside replied, “No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat.”

The man said, “Oh, you’re one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in!”

Ironside said, “Yes, you’re just like my dog. That’s what he does too!”

Fulton Oursler learned to thankful from a black lady who helped

care for him when he was a little boy. Every time she sat down to

eat, she bowed her head and said, "Much obliged, Lord." Oursler asked

her why she did this. the food was ther for her to enjoy whether she

gave thanks or not. She replied, "Sure, we get our vittles, but it

makes everything taste better to be grateful." Many years later

Oursler stood at the bedside of that woman as she lay dying. Seeing

her in much pain, he wondered if she still could find something to be

grateful for. Just then she opened her eyes. Whens he saw him and

the others gathered around, she folded her hands and said with a

smile, "Much obliged, Lord, for such fine friends."

- {Our Daily Bread, }Fall 1997, November 24

Matthew Henry, the famous Bible scholar, was robbed by thieves. He

wrote in his diary: "Let me be thankful first because I was never

robbed before; second, although they took my wallet, they did not take

my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much;

and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed."

- Jerry Songer, "`Tis the Season to Be Thankful," {Proclaim,

}(Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct-Dec, 1996) 35

Norman Vincent Peale told about a man by the name of William

Stidger who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The man had

been a very vital, dynamic person; but he had become an empty shell of

his old self. A friend suggested the way for him to avoid further

breakdown and to be healed was by the therapy of thanksgiving and by

the practice of what is called "the attitude of graditude." His

friend advised Stidger to sit down and to make a list of all the

people who had helped him through the years. Then he was to fill his

mind with thankfulness for all these and for all they had done for

him. His friend asked if he had ever thanked anybody. "No," he said, "I never really made much stress on that."

Next, his friend advised him to think of someone who especially had

blessed his life and to write that peson a letter thanking him or

her. He thought of a school teacher, who was now a ver old lady.

Stidger sat down and wrote the teacher a letter telling her that he

remembered the inspiration she had given him, how he had never

forgotten her across the years, and how much he loved her. A few days

later he received a letter written in a trembling hand. Using his

boyhood name, it said, "Dear Willie: When I think back over all the

children I have taught in my lifetime, you are the only one who ever

wrote to thank me for what I did as a teacher. You have made me so

happy. I have read your letter through my tears. I have it by my

bedside and I read it every night. I shall cherish your letter until

the day I die."

This did so much for him that he thought of someone else to write

and then someone else and before he was through, had written five

hundred unexpected letters of thanks. the therapy of thanksgiving had

much to do with curing him of his depression. He was so grateful for

every new day, and he lived it to the fullest.

- Jerry Songer, "`Tis the Season to Be Thankful," {Proclaim,}(Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct-Dec, 1996) 35

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. --Colossians 4:2

A missionary to Haiti was told by a doctor that she might have cancer. A biopsy was performed and sent away for analysis. As she waited for the results, she was filled with fear and could find no peace of mind.

Then one evening her anxiety suddenly lifted like a cloud. She had a deep and inexpressible awareness that the Lord would take care of her husband and children and their emotional needs, regardless of the outcome.

As she reflected on all of this, it occurred to her that it was Wednesday evening--prayer meeting night in her home church back in the United States. She also realized that it was the first Wednesday night after friends had been notified of the potential crisis. These facts convinced this faithful missionary that God had given her an opportunity to sense His answer to the prayers of others on her behalf. In addition, the medical report soon came back with the welcome news that there was no cancer.

This true incident carries a needed reminder to all of us who are Christians. The emphasis given to prayer in Colossians 4 highlights the kind of support we should be giving one another. Let's pray for the needs of others and then watch to see what the Lord does. --MRDII

When earthly help is of no avail,

There is one Friend who will never fail;

Just lift your eyes - the answer is there,

For nobody knows the power of prayer! --Kenny

To influence people for God, pray to God for people.

In The Sacred Journey, Frederick Buechner writes:

[One] winter I sat in Army fatigues somewhere near Anniston, Alabama, eating my supper out of a mess kit. The infantry training battalion that I had been assigned to was on bivouac. There was a cold drizzle, and everything was mud. The sun had gone down.

I was still hungry when I finished and noticed that a man nearby had something left over that he was not going to eat. It was a turnip, and when I asked him if I could have it, he tossed it over to me. I missed the catch, the turnip fell to the ground, but I wanted it so badly that I picked it up and started eating it anyway, mud and all.

And then, as I ate it, time deepened and slowed down again. With a lurch of the heart that is real to me still, I saw suddenly, almost as if from beyond time altogether, that not only was the turnip good, but the mud was good too, even the drizzle and cold were good, even the Army that I had dreaded for months.

Sitting there in the Alabama winter with my mouth full of cold turnip and mud, I could see at least for a moment how if you ever took truly to heart the ultimate goodness and joy of things, even at their bleakest, the need to praise someone or something for it would be so great that you might even have to go out and speak of it to the birds of the air.

Ephesians 5:20

You can Overdue Thanksgiving if ...

* You spill more food on you than the local soup kitchen dispenses

* Paramedics bring in the Jaws of Life to pry you out of the EZ-Boy

* Your after dinner moans are loud enough to signal Dr. Kevorkian

* The "Gravy Boat" your wife set out was a real 12' boat!

* The potatoes you used set off another famine in Ireland

* You get grass stains on your bottom after a walk, but never sat down

* Your "Big Elvis Super-Belt" won't even go around your waist

* You receive a Sumo Wrestler application in your e-mail

* You set off 3 earthquake seismographs on your morning jog Friday

* Pricking your finger for cholesterol screening only yielded gravy

* You have 5 TV sets side-by-side to catch all the football games

* A guest quotes a Biblical passage from "The Feeding of the 5000"

* That rash on your stomach turns out to be steering wheel burn

* Your wife wears a life jacket at night in your water bed

* Representatives from the Butterball Hall of Fame called twice

* You consider gluttony as your patriotic duty

* It looks like the left-overs are gonna last until Christmas

* Your arms are too short to reach the keyboard & delete this

TULSA, OK (DPI) - In what is becoming more and more common on holidays here in America, an entire family exploded shortly after finishing their Thanksgiving dinner. Investigators from the Tulsa Sheriff Department said that, while the sheer size of the meal certainly played a part in the Turkey Day Massacre, the straw that broke the gobbler's back was in fact the whipped cream on the top of the pumpkin pie.

Sheriff Bill Gutt commented, "Yep, it was the Cool-Whip what done it. People just ain't got no common sense."

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come. What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer.

"She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. Thanksgiving? Thankful for what? she wondered. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her.

"I ... I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.

"For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving "Special?" asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi, Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest.

"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh ... she just left with no flowers!"

"Right, said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."

"That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk, "and for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life and never to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort.

You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement ... twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?"

"No ... I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too...fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."

It read: My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Praise Him for your roses, thank him for your thorns.

If it weren't for Indian deaths, the Pilgrims would have been hard-pressed to settle in Plymouth that cold winter of 1620. In a brief skirmish, the Pilgrim's muskets had slain no natives, nor had any arrows struck Englishmen. Disease had been the killer. The Pilgrims discovered corn fields cleared in the forests, now deserted. What had once been a bustling village of Patuxet Indians nearby, stood empty, ravaged by disease four years earlier, leaving but a single survivor.

SURVIVORS

The Pilgrims, themselves, lived on the edge of survival that first winter. They had begun well enough. After 66 days crossing the stormy Atlantic, 104 Pilgrims beheld the New World, including a baby boy, Oceanus, born at sea.

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land," wrote Governor William Bradford, "they 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, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element."

But within four months, scurvy, pneumonia, and a virulent strain of tuberculosis had cut down whole families of Pilgrims. As the sickness raged, only six or seven persons in the whole company were strong enough to tend the sick and comfort the dying.

Six died in December, then eight in January, seventeen in February. Of March, Bradford wrote, "This month thirteen of our number die ... scarce fifty remain, the living scarce able to bury the dead." Of eighteen married women, only three remained. Baby Oceanus died.

INDIAN AID

But in April, when it was time to put in gardens, the Indians whom they feared came to their aid. One day, unannounced, the tall, powerful warrior Samoset strode into their camp, armed with a bow and arrows, nearly naked except for a leather string around his waist "with a fringe about a span long, or a little more," the embarrassed Bradford recorded. To the Pilgrims' surprise, Samoset greeted them with the word, "Welcome!" He had learned some English from fishermen in his native Maine. Later, he introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, chief of the neighboring Wampanoag tribe, and to Squanto, last known survivor of the Patuxets.

Though the Wampanoag braves towered over the short Englishmen, and outnumbered their tiny militia 60 to 20, they reached a treaty of peace that stood for forty years until Massasoit's death.

Squanto, who had been kidnapped and lived for a while in England, spoke their language, too. He taught the Pilgrims where to trap eels and how to plant corn. The Pilgrims, who had pilfered Indian corn the previous December, may not have been deserving. But this unexpected help made the difference for them between survival and starvation. Settler Edward Winslow described it thus:

"We set the last spring some twenty acres of Indian corn, and sowed some six acres of barley and peas, and according to the manner of the Indians, we manured our ground with herrings or rather shads, which we have in great abundance, and take with great ease at our doors. Our corn did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown, they came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom."

Nevertheless, the harvest was good and the Pilgrims' food ration increased substantially. By fall, eleven houses lined the street of Plymouth Colony, seven private homes and four common buildings. The dying had stopped, and trade had begun with the Indians.

A THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

To celebrate, the Pilgrims invited Massasoit to a harvest festival, and a hunting party shot enough waterfowl to feed the company for a week. But when Massasoit arrived, he was joined by ninety ravenous braves. For their contribution the Indians went out and returned five deer. It was a three-day feast of venison, roast duck, roast goose, clams and other shellfish, succulent eels, white bread, corn bread, leeks and watercress, with wild plums and dried berries -- all enjoyed with wine newly made from grapes that grew wild in the forest.

It was a feast of thanksgiving, of thankfulness to God. Edward Winslow wrote to friends in December, "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 you partakers of our plenty."

The goodness of God was often on their minds. Though the Pilgrims had suffered great loss and hardship, they also were aware of God's great blessing: the produce of the land, peace with the natives, the joy of life, and homes snug for winter.

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

and into his courts with praise.

Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endures to all generations." (Psalm 100:4-5)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Quotations are from Governor William Bradford's manuscript Of Plimoth Plantation (Boston, 1856), and Edward Winslow in Mourt's Relation: A Relation or Journal of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England, by certain English adventurers both merchants and others (London, 1622). Wordings have been changed to modern spellings. I also relied heavily on George F. Willison, Saints and Strangers (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1945), a scholarly and popular retelling of the history of Plymouth Colony.

Churches may reprint this article free of charge by informing the author via e-mail and including the following: "Copyright (c) 2000, by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. pastor@joyfulheart.com"

*

We bring the sacrifice of praise

into the house of the Lord;

We bring the sacrifice of praise

into the house of the Lord.

And we offer up to You

the sacrifices of thanksgiving;

And we offer up to You

the sacrifices of joy!

*

Lord, I lift Your Name on high,

Lord, I love to sing Your praises,

I'm so glad You're in my life,

I'm so glad You came to save us.

You came from heaven to earth

to show the way,

From the earth to the cross,

my debt to pay;

From the cross to the grave,

from the grave to the sky;

Lord, I lift Your Name on high.

*

1. Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul;

Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Chorus

O my God, I trust in Thee,

Let me not be ashamed,

let not my enemies triumph over me.

2. Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed;

Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed.

3. Show me Thy ways, Thy ways O Lord;

Show me Thy ways, Thy ways O Lord.

4. Remember not the sins of my youth;

Remember not the sins of my youth.

*