The First Thanksgiving

Dated: November 28 2024

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The First Thanksgiving

Most people do not realize that the New England Settlers waited two years before celebrating the Thanksgiving that we celebrate. In this poem, Hezekiah Butterworth captures the first Thanksgiving, which was much different than the one we celebrate. In fact, by the end of the winter, they were left with just five kernels of corn rationed to each person per day. That is how close they came to starvation. Below is Hezekiah’s poem, entitled, “Five Kernels of Corn.”

 

Five Kernels of Corn

by Hezekiah Butterworth

'Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old,
The ice and the snow from the thatched roofs had rolled;
Through the warm purple skies steered the geese o'er the seas,
And the woodpeckers tapped in the clocks of the trees;
And the boughs on the slopes to the south winds lay bare,
and dreaming of summer, the buds swelled in the air.
The pale Pilgrims welcomed each reddening morn;
There were left but for rations Five Kernels of Corn.
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
But to Bradford a feast were Five Kernels of Corn!

"Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye people, be glad for Five Kernels of Corn!"
So Bradford cried out on bleak Burial Hill,
And the thin women stood in their doors, white and still.
"Lo, the harbor of Plymouth rolls bright in the Spring,
The maples grow red, and the wood robins sing,
The west wind is blowing, and fading the snow,
And the pleasant pines sing, and arbutuses blow.
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
To each one be given Five Kernels of Corn!"

O Bradford of Austerfield hast on thy way,
The west winds are blowing o'er Provincetown Bay,
The white avens bloom, but the pine domes are chill,
And new graves have furrowed Precisioners' Hill!
"Give thanks, all ye people, the warm skies have come,
The hilltops are sunny, and green grows the holm,
And the trumpets of winds, and the white March is gone,
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye have for Thanksgiving Five Kernels of Corn!

"The raven's gift eat and be humble and pray,
A new light is breaking and Truth leads your way;
One taper a thousand shall kindle; rejoice
That to you has been given the wilderness voice!"
O Bradford of Austerfield, daring the wave,
And safe through the sounding blasts leading the brave,
Of deeds such as thine was the free nation born,
And the festal world sings the "Five Kernels of Corn."
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
The nation gives thanks for Five Kernels of Corn!
To the Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

 

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

For many of Americans, Thanksgiving has turned into just another off day to sit around, watch football, and overindulge. This is unfortunate. Thanksgiving is so much more than the food! It is actually a story of sacrifice and commitment. It is a story of people who gave up everything and risked their lives for the sake of freedom. They desired a freedom to worship the living God according their conscious. They desired the freedom to establish a government according to God’s law. They desired a free nation, in which everyone could live out their freedom in Christ! This experiment was the vision of the settlers who sacrificed everything for it. Many of them lost loved ones - husbands, wives, children, and friends – for the sake of their vision. They endured hunger, famine, cold, and all kinds of affliction. Yet they persevered to establish a free nation, in which we can worship freely according to our conscious and live purposeful lives of service to one another. We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and this poem helps us remember what and why we should be thankful. Now go and be thankful for “the free nation” was born through the five kernels of corn and “the nation gives thanks for the five kernels of corn!”

 

*Indebted to Dr. George Grant and his podcast, entitled, “5 Kernels of Corn & a Basket of Laundry.”

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Andrew Rudd

Andrew Rudd is a trusted real estate advisor based in Shelby County, Kentucky, serving Shelbyville, Simpsonville, and the greater Louisville area, including St. Matthews, Middletown, Anchorage, East L....

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