Seasons: Pilgrim Reflections

1621: a small band of people, who called themselves Strangers, sailed away from a dock in Plymouth, England, destined for a land they had never seen before. Simply trying to find a haven to worship freely, the Separatists felt God leading them to the New World; they would not rebel against King James I and Parliament. Unlike the Puritans who remained part of the state Church of England to “purify” it from the inside out, they knew that they had to go.

Can you image what that voyage across the wide, gray Atlantic must have been like? Leaving family, friends, and all things dear and familiar is never easy in any time or age. Yet, even as the clouds gathered above the ship called the Mayflower, a season of change in England was used to bring the gospel to the New World!

Thanksgiving, in essence, is a celebration of such change. As summer declines the brilliance of autumn overtakes the landscape, mellowing into rich russets, yellows, and crimson. Salt marshes by the sea transform into every shade of brown and yellow imaginable while migrating hawks and monarch butterflies soar and flitter above.

Living a settled and contented life must include change. As the Separatists before us, we, too, are pilgrims passing from one land to another. In the routine of grading papers, going on field trips, family activities, and life itself, it is easy to lose perspective. However, regardless of how long we have lived in a particular location, we need “loose roots”: the ability to love God and His Word above culture, nationality, and creature comforts.

Homeschooling, by its own nature, requires “loose roots.” As a homeschool grad and pastor’s daughter, I am so thankful for parents who were willing to teach me as we moved. Meeting a new church family, making new friends, and keeping up with school proved challenging at times, yet my parents’ love and dedication eased the transitions. Taking the path less traveled is more than impulse or being counter-culture: it’s tenacity and hard work often in obscurity.

Tim Keesee, director of Frontline Missions, shares a poem in his book Dispatches from the Front in daring frankness. Entitled “If China,” the last lines read, ¹“Who told you to settle in? / Who told you this or that would last forever? Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you’ll never in the world / feel at home here?”

Love, truth, and grace will last for eternity! Leading, loving, and teaching one’s children will endure. In the broad scheme of things, what more does one truly need? While material needs must be met and God expects us to think and plan, we are entirely dependent on God’s grace just as the Pilgrims were as they landed at Plymouth Rock along the rocky shore of Massachusetts.

Blown off course from Virginia’s coastline, the Pilgrims landed where they never intended. A long and arduous winter brought cold and hunger. Disease broke out. Yet the Pilgrims endured and, when the first harvest came, they invited the Native Americans and shared their bounty with them. If the Pilgrims had never left England or settled in Virginia, would our nation even have a concept of Thanksgiving?

For those who believe in Christ alone, thanksgiving is more than a day to eat the obligatory turkey, watch festive parades, and snooze during a football game. We are free to follow God’s path for ourselves and our family! Every season brings new opportunities and hope: are we looking for them?

Rachel Ann Rogish is a freelance writer, excited to give back to quality home education and promoting a creative-ministry life-style. When she is isn’t writing, you can find her learning the domestic arts, reading a good book, exploring nature, and reporting for the Cape May County Herald Newspaper.

https://seagypsyrachelann417.wordpress.com

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¹ Baranczak, Stanislaw, “If China” in Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness. New York: W.W. Norton, 1993.