Let us Say Grace

Growing up, saying grace before a meal wasn’t something our family did on a regular basis. We tended to save it for “special occasions,” like Easter and Christmas and such. The words we said were pretty simple:

                God is great, God is good
		Now we thank Him for our food
		By His hands, we all are fed,
		Thank you for our daily bread. 
		Amen. 

It’s not a bad little expression of gratitude for a theistic household (which we were), but not one that I would necessarily use today for several reasons. 

As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m thinking about this holiday and the practices of grace and the theme of gratitude that go with it. In elementary school, I was taught the myth of the Mayflower pilgrims, who landed in what is now known Plymouth, Massachusetts and sat down to a friendly, shared meal with the Wampanoags, the local native American people. The story was that the Wampanoags helped the pilgrims get adjusted to their new home and that their relationship was one of mutual support, gratitude, and respect. 

Of course, today, I know that this tale is a clean-up version of what really happened. When the English pilgrims arrived at Plymouth in 1620, the Wampanoag chief Ousamequin did offer the Europeans an alliance, primarily to protect his tribe against their rivals. Over the next 50 years, however, this alliance was tested by colonialism, as more European settlers came to the area, expanded their land holdings, exploited resources, and spread disease. 

The King Philip’s War of 1675, which took place between the indigenous inhabitants of New England and the New England colonists and their allies, resulted in the destruction of a great number of Plymouth and Rhode Island colonial towns. Hundreds of Wampanoags and their allies were also publicly executed or enslaved, and the Wampanoags were left effectively landless.  According to historian and author David Silverman, Thanksgiving today is remembered by the Wampanoags as a day of deep mourning, rather than a time of giving thanks.

As we continue to own up to our brutal colonial past in North America, I don’t believe this necessarily means that we forgo the Thanksgiving tradition of celebrating family and friends around a shared meal. But I do think it’s important to remember that we do so on stolen land, and, therefore, a measure of humility is also in order.

As we say grace around our tables this coming Thanksgiving Day, perhaps we might also consider reciting an inscription from a plaque erected at Plymouth that reads, in part:

Since 1970, Native Americans have gathered at noon on Cole’s Hill
in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the 
U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native Americans do not 
Celebrate the arrival of the pilgrims and other European settlers.
To them, Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions
of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault 
on their cultures. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor
Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive 
today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as 
well as a protest of the racism and oppression which Native 
Americans continue to experience. 

May we be grateful. May we enjoy these holidays. And may we engage in acts of reparation and support for the indigenous people who understandably don’t share our enthusiasm for this time of year. 

Rev Terry