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Joy is Coming

Posted on by Fr. Peter

AdventJoy

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice!

We see right in the opening lines of today’s Scripture passage the command of Paul to always rejoice.  He must have meant it since he said it twice.  What Paul is telling us is important as we move through these weeks of preparation for the birth of Christ, we must always rejoice.  I know it is difficult when we are in line waiting or when we are ripping that last item out of another person’s hand because you want it, to rejoice, but we simply do not have a choice in the matter.

At the start of the fourth chapter, Paul is writing about two women in the church that just cannot get along.  These two have struggled with Paul and are now at odds with each other for a reason that is unclear.  My guess is that whatever it was they were arguing over was nonsense and so Paul did not even mention it.  So many times we get into arguments about things that, in the final analysis, were so meaningless that we do not even remember what they were about, but even in these times, Paul is telling us to rejoice!

Rejoicing in what God has done for us changes us.  Just like if we walk around constantly complaining about things and are always on the lookout for problems changes us, joy changes us as well.  As Christians, we are not to be known by our aggressive holding of opinions but by our gentle dealings with people.

Years ago, it was all the rage to wear a bracelet that had the initials on it that read WWJD, what would Jesus do.  Kids and adults would wear these as a constant reminder to always think about what Jesus would do in any given situation.  Well, that is the wrong question to be asking.  We are not Jesus. So the question should be, what does Jesus want us to do?  Knowing that Jesus is present with us, in all situations, how should we be treating one another?

As people who follow Jesus, we are commanded not to be anxious but to pray and thank God in all times. God’s peace will guard our hearts, not our emotions, but our thinking and choosing, and will determine our mindset. This is the same advice that God gives in verse 5 of chapter 2 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”  Jesus did not press for his rights but condescended to the will of God, even though He is equal to God.  Paul continues in Chapter 2 of this letter, “being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of humanity.”

So we are to rejoice, but we are also to be gentle. “Let your gentleness be known to all,” Paul tells us in verse 5. Gentleness, considerate, yielding all of these can be considered a weakness, however, what Paul is telling us is that this attitude describes how Christians are to conduct or represent themselves. The concern for others is not necessarily to be one of yielding.  One of the greatest voices in the Anti-Slavery movement was William Lloyd Garrison.  He was often accused of intolerance and ungentlemanly immoderation.  To one of his accusers, he replied, “On this subject I do not wish to think or speak with moderation. No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him moderately to rescue his wife from the hands of a ravisher; tell a mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen – but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.”  However, Garrison never resorted to fear tactics or name calling in his constant struggle against the forces of darkness.  As Christians, we have to speak the truth, but we have to tell the truth in love.

Verse 7 is often used as a Benediction in our services and at other times in our lives. “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  What is this peace of God that Paul is talking about?

I have often said that English is a very limiting language.  Take the word love for example.  In Greek, there are four different words for the one English word love.  In English we use the same word to say, “I love hamburgers” and “I love my spouse.”  How can this be?  Do we love them the same?  Of course not, but words limit us.

In his book, Bible Translating, Eugene Nida explains the Mayan language: “Mya makes a distinction in the area of meaning covered by the English word peace. Maya has two words. One of these designates an inward peace of the heart and the other denotes the lack of strife between people.” Christians often demote “peace” from God’s great action into a small calming of our emotions or an ironing out of our daily difficulties.  The peace that Paul is talking about, and the peace that Christians should be striving for is the peace that guards our hearts, and this is the peace of God brought about through Jesus Christ.

There is much talk in our world about peace.  It seems all sides are fighting with each other on a limitless number of issues.  But not just fighting, people are talking at each other and not to each other.  We are screaming as a way of making a point and when we do that no one is listening.  Peace can truly be accomplished in our world, but it begins inside each one of us.  If we want peace in the world, then we have to have peace in our world.  Peace in our homes.  Peace at work, peace in our church. And peace in our hearts.  We cannot hope to influence others to peace if we do not know it ourselves.  As the old song goes, “let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

Paul lays out for us the cosmic ramifications of peace in Christ.  The peace of Christ is dynamic, it does things, it stands guard as sentinel.  What Paul is speaking about here is the peace produced by God!  God produces peace in this world, once person at a time and this peace will produce joy!

But what is this joy that Paul speaks about?  We may not like the answer that Paul is about to give us, but we nonetheless have to hear it.  Paul finds his joy through his sufferings.  Through Paul’s sufferings the Gospel of Jesus Christ is advancing and for that he is rejoicing!  In Paul’s very experience of pain, he has found the impossible joy, because in suffering an inevitable death and because of them, he has found men and women, like those in Philippi, coming to life in Jesus Christ.

Paul believes that the primary and abiding joy for Christians comes from the presence of Christ in their lives, not from circumstances.  Sure things can bring us joy and situations can bring us joy, but those are fleeting.  We look for situational joy, times that will make us happy but what Paul is speaking of is the joy of God through Christ in our lives and if we have that joy nothing can take it away, in fact, this joy will exist even in adverse situations.

When we make room for this joy in our lives, then peace will come over us.  If we allow the peace of God to be the sentinel of our hearts and minds then when we are dealing with those in our lives, peace will reign and not disorder and chaos.  I always remind myself that Jesus is in the room with me at all times and in all places, even when I am sitting behind a keyboard commenting on Facebook, Jesus is there.  What is the message we are sending to those on the outside?  What message are we sending when we have disagreements in Church that prevent us from continuing God’s mission?  The disagreement that the two woman were having had apparently risen to the level that Paul needed to address it, and it had evidently started to keep them from the mission, spreading the Gospel.  It was harming the community, and Paul wanted it to stop.  He was telling them that it is not about us getting our way it is about God getting his way in each and every situation.

Joy comes when we make room in the inn of our hearts for the one who wants to come in.  He is knocking on the door of our hearts, not just during this Advent season but all year long.  He wants to come in and help us change and realize our potential.  The season of Joy for a Christian cannot be reduced to one season or one day.  The season of Joy for a Christian is each and every day.  If we make room in our hearts, just a little room, the radical transforming power of God will take hold, and we will find peace and we will find joy, even in the midst of our suffering.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

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Leadership and the Measured Response

Posted on by Fr. Peter

storm

We expect a lot out of our leaders and sometimes it might be too much.  The art of leadership is all about setting the tone, providing vision and direction and moving things along in a steady pace.  Leadership is influence, influencing people to work at their potential to get the job done. Reading the signs along the way and making gentle course corrections usually brings one across the finish line with little or no interruptions in things.

The captain of a cargo ship has to plan for many things when setting sail for port.  For example a 103,000 ton ship at full speed can take more than a mile to stop so knowing what and where to obstacles are is important in navigation of his ship.

In a 2011 essay in the Harvard Business Review, leadership consultant and coach John Baldoni laid out the five principles for leadership in crisis.

Take a moment to figure out what is going on.  Assemble your team, delegate responsibility to the necessary people to gather the information and then report back with their finding.  Chaos is never good and can lead to bad decisions.

Act promptly, not hurriedly.  A leader provides direction and that needs to be provided in a timely fashion.  Making decision in a sense of urgency or hurried will only case those on the team to get nervous and feel unsure about the direction things are going.  Slow down; catch your breath, and then act.

Manage expectations. Slow and steady wins the race.  The initial reaction to crisis is that it be over as quickly as possible.  All relevant data needs to be collected before a decision can be made about how to respond to the crisis.  Alarming people is never good but giving them information is important.

Demonstrate control.  During the aftermath of the Blizzard of 1978 Governor Michael Dukakis appeared on television almost nightly wearing a sweater and providing updates on the crisis.  He tone and demeanor lead to a calming of people.  Sometimes the information he provided was not earth shattering but by doing it he able to calm people down.  Bringing in the necessary experts to work on the situation and out resources also helps to demonstrate that the leader has control of the situation.

Keep loose.  “A hallmark of a crisis is its ability to change quickly; your first response may not be your final response.”  Leadership is situational and what works in this particular instance might not work in the same instance tomorrow.  A leader has to be willing and able to change course if that is what is necessary.  If a particular strategy is not working then look for an alternative, adapt the present one or throw it out all together and look for a different one.

The leader’s job is not to do the heavy lifting but to surround him/herself with the right people.  The leader provides the vision and sets the direction as well as the tone.  If the leader is frantic the rest of the team will be frantic, if the leader is calm and brings that sense of calm to the situation, then the team will be calm.  Although we may want our leader, be it president or some other leader, to act quickly I always remind myself that they are aware of thousands of pieces of information we are not, and for good reason.  We have to trust our leadership that they know what is going on when we clearly do not.

Being a leader when things are running smooth is easy but more often than not leadership is tested in times of crisis.  Baldoni makes it clear that following these guidelines will enable the leader to be that calm presence and then be able to provide the vision and direction necessary to the task.

What we need is a leader who is just that, calm and measured and not one willing to push the button and blow them off the face of the earth.  That is the easy solution, but what is the measured response in crisis, that is the question.

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Chaplain George Hughes Hepworth

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Chaplain George Hughes Hepworth
Chaplain George Hughes Hepworth

“Good-by for a year.”1

These were the words spoken by the Harvard-educated Unitarian minister in Boston as he prepared to leave for service with the with the 47 Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in the United States Civil War.

His French mother had wished for a son who could preach, and her dream came true on February 4, 1833, when George Hughes Hepworth was born in Boston.  He earned his Doctorate from Harvard University in 1855 at the age of twenty-two and began a pastorate on the Island of Nantucket.  He returned to Boston in 1858 and would serve there for another twelve years.  It was during this time that the news of the Civil War was brewing.

According to his writings, Rev. Hepworth saw the Civil War not only as an “apocalyptic showdown between good and evil but as a historical, God-driven break between two ages.”2  He saw it has his duty to do what he could to aid in this struggle and when he told his congregation, I can stay no longer,” they said to him, “Go, and God speed to you!”

Rev. Hepworth was commissioned Chaplain on November 6, 1862, with the 47th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia that had been called up for nine months of service.  On the day he reported for service, the church bells began to ring, and he thought the bells had a message for him.

“Chaplain, the work before you are hard but grand. A thousand mothers, wives, and daughters have given those they dearly love their country. A thousand homes will support your arms while a thousand altar-fires will burn low for nine long months; and many, Alas! will never be kindled into their wonted brilliancy, because there is war, bloody war, in the land. Look to your duty. Pray for the boy, who, until now, has never known temptation; warn the husband and the father who is walking, as fast as he can, in the road that leads to moral death, and who will bring back his family, at the end of his term of service, a poisoned mind and heart; and when the dark day lowers, and the air is thick with battle-smoke, speak, with the Master’s authority, the ‘Peace, be still!’ to those who have fallen; and open, with the hand of friendship and of prayer, the door of heaven, that they may enter to receive their reward.”3

The 47th Regiment was organized at Camp Stanton in Lynnfield Massachusetts and then transferred to Camp Meigs in Readville to complete their training.  The regiment was transported by steamer first to Long Island New York and then on to New Orleans.  Finding regimental chaplain life a disappointment, Rev. Hepworth resigned his chaplain Commission after three months service on February 11, 1863, to accept a commission with the 76th Regiment US Colored Troops.

After the war Rev. Hepworth returned to his Church in Boston and would eventually end up in New York where he advocated help for those displaced by war especially the many former slaves that were coming to the north.

Upon hearing of the Kurdish Massacres in Armenia, Rev Hepworth traveled to Armenia to discover the truth about these events.  He wrote about his experience in “Through Armenia on Horseback.”  Shortly after his return from Armenia, Rev. Hepworth’s health began to fail him, and he died on June 7, 1902, and were buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain Massachusetts.

During his time at Harvard, he began to question slavery that contributed to his thoughts on the war and his work after the war until his death.  His was a brilliant mind, and I have no doubt that he brought much comfort to those he served with.

_____________________________
1. George H. Hepworth, The Whip, Hoe, and Sword, The Gulf Department in ’63 (Boston: Walker, Wise, and Company, 1864)
2. Benedict R. Maryniak, The Spirit Divided: Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains : the Union (Mercer University Press, 2007)
3. Ibid.

 

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Trump and the Muslims

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Donald Trump Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images
Donald Trump Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images

Well he is at it again.  The Republican Presidential front-runner told a cheering crowd that he would ban all Muslims from entering the US, even Muslims who are US citizens, as well as close Mosques.  Christians, and all people of faith in the United States, need to stand up against this extremist.  We need to fight radical Islam for sure but we need to fight extremists regardless of their faith background.  Trump claims to be a Christian and informed by his Presbyterian background.  This certainly does not sound very Christian to me.

Russell Moore of the Washington Post has written a well thought out piece on how Christians need to respond to Mr. Trump and his wildly un-American ideas.  Here is a bit of the piece:

Make no mistake. A government that can shut down mosques simply because they are mosques can shut down Bible studies because they are Bible studies. A government that can close the borders to all Muslims simply on the basis of their religious belief can do the same thing for evangelical Christians.

A government that issues ID badges for Muslims simply because they are Muslims can, in the fullness of time, demand the same for Christians because we are Christians.

We are in a time of war, and we should respond as those in a time of war. But we must never lose in a time of war precious freedoms purchased through the blood of patriots in years past. We must have security, and we must have order. But we must not trade soul freedom for an illusion of winning.

Read the Rest Here

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Out with the Old in with the New

Posted on by Fr. Peter

old-new-sign-istock-photo-download

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:68-79

The passage of Scripture quotes above from the Gospel of St. Luke is most commonly known as the Song of Zachariah.  As the story goes, while Zachariah was fulfilling his duties as High Priest, the angel came to him while he was in the Holy Place and told him that his wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a son.  Zachariah and Elizabeth had been praying for some time for a child to be born of them and they were now of advanced age so Zachariah sort of mocked the angel.  Because of this the angel took away Zachariah’s ability to speak until his son was born and he was asked what the name of this new child was going to be.

Just as Elizabeth broke into song, so to speak, when she had the first glimpse of the now pregnant Mary, Zachariah breaks out into this prophetic statement about the coming of the Messiah and the role that his child would have in all of this.  This event is a transition point in Scripture and ushers out the old and brings in the new.

We have two stories of an Annunciation, that of the angel appearing to Zachariah, as we have just discussed, and that of the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary to announce that she would conceive a son and call him Jesus.  I should back up and say that both angels were called Gabriel, the herald.

The Angel comes to Zachariah in the Temple.  He tells him that he is going to be a father and that the child’s name will be John.  As I mentioned, Zachariah kind of scoffs at the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”  I like that he said his wife was “well advanced in years.”  Notice he did not call her old as I am sure he would have had more to deal with than just losing his voice!

When the same angel appears to Mary six months later he says, “Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.”  As with Zachariah, he tells her not to be afraid.  I don’t know about you but if someone suddenly appeared in my room, I think I would be a little scared.  He tells he that, like Elizabeth, she is going to conceive a son but not in the same way.  She asks one question of the angel, “How can this be since I do not know man?”  When the angel tells her how it will happen, she replies, “Let it be to me according to your word.” This is a question of innocence not of mocking, and so the angel tells her what will happen.  He does not strike her mute for asking the question.  So innocent and pure is her faith that she simply says okay if that is what God wants I will do it.  And with that Mary becomes the first disciple of her son.

John the Baptist will become the last of the Old Testament Prophets.  Their job was to prepare the way for the one who would come after them, the one who is so great that John was not worthy to tie his shoes, the shoes of the one who would come.  Jesus would be the final prophet the one who completes the law and all the prophecies before him.  We see Zachariah involved in an elaborate ceremony when the angel comes when the angel visits Mary she is going about her business and with a simple phrase completely changes the worship of God.  “Be it done unto me according to thy will.”

Gone were all of the rituals and sacrifices of the old way and now it was the simple faith of a peasant girl that would show us the new way. “Be it done unto me…”  The simple faith of Mary is the faith that we must have the simple faith of accepting of what God wants of us.  Mary did not sit down and come up with a list of pro’s and con’s before she answered, no he said God had chosen her and wanted her to do something, and she said yes, and that yes changed the world.  Could Mary have said no?  Sure she could have, she had the same free will that all of us have, but she chose the way of God, regardless of the consequences for her life and the life of her family.  She chose this way because God asked her.

Our faith needs to be this simple.  God is asking things of us each day, and we stand at the crossroads of following his will in our lives or following our will in our lives.  Chose the path Mary accepted and followed the will of God in your lives.  It might not be the best road, it might be filled with potholes and other pitfalls, but it is the best road to follow.  And once you are on that road, never look back.

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Faith Without Works is Dead

Posted on by Fr. Peter

 

daily news

Once again we have been witness to a mass shooting and once again everyone drops to their knees and starts praying.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe in prayer and I believe in the power of prayer but there has to be some action associated with that prayer.

There are some situations that we simply cannot pray ourselves out of.  There is an old story about a man stuck on his roof and the water is rising.  Along come a boat, and a helicopter and other such things to rescue the man from the roof of his house.  He tells them all no thanks, God will save me.  Well the man dies and standing before God the man asks God why he did not save him.  God says, I sent you a boat and a helicopter what more did you want?

We have the ability to start a discussion about real reform.  I for one do not understand why someone needs to own an assault rifle and 1600 rounds of ammunition that can pierce body armor.  I was not present when the framers of the US Constitution were doing their thing but I am certain this is not what they had in mind.  You want to own a gun to hunt, great.  You want to own a gun for personal protection, great.  I don’t believe you need to own an automatic one.

Am I praying, yes I am praying for the victims of this shooting and for the politicians who need to have their hearts softened and get off the payroll of the NRA and do something.  If you are one who is praying, and I hope you are, then you need to follow this up with action and call or write to your politicians and demand serious reform this is how things get done we simply cannot pray this way.

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the Letter of St. James.  It is a wonderful pastoral letter about all sorts of things but it begins by talking about faith and works and how a faith that has no works is a dead faith.  It is not enough to just believe we have to do something with that belief.  We cannot simply go to church, say a few prayers, and hope someone else does the work, we are required to work.  If your faith does not move you to action your faith is dead, there I said it!  If you do not know what to do, ask someone, hand wringing is no longer an option.

The relevant passage from the Letter of St. James is posted below.  Read it, meditate on it, and I hope it moves you to action.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.  James 2:14-26

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First Sunday in Advent ~ Living in Hope

Posted on by Fr. Peter

 

first sunday

Today begins the season of Advent, as season that has all but been forgotten by the world.  In our rush to but the latest gadget we go right from Thanksgiving to Christmas without that intentional stop in Advent.  It is like skipping Lent and going right to Easter!  Advent is that time of expectation, of waiting, of patience.  We know what is coming, and we want to get right to it, but we have to slow down, pause, take a breath, and wait.

In the Eastern Church, Advent is a penitential season and if often called Christians Lent.  Orthodox Christians are supposed to fast during this time, not as strict as during Lent, but there is a giving up during this period.  It is a time of preparation and looking at one’s life and checking in to see if we have come off the road a little and what we need to do to get back on.  In Western Christianity there are remnants of that.  The liturgical colors change from the usual green to purple, but not for penance but an announcement of the royalty of the coming Christ.  Purple is a regal color reserved for kings!

We get so busy during this preparation time with shopping for more junk that we think shows others how much we love them, to parties and all of the other stuff that we jam into this time of year.  With all of this noise going on around us we lose sight of the waiting, of the slowing down, of the patience that this time of year is supposed to bring upon us.

Recently I was having a conversation with someone and they mentioned how we were now in the Christmas Season.  I tried to hide my wonder when I said that we were not in the Christmas season but in fact we were in the Season of Advent that the Christmas season did not begin until December 24th.  Expectation, waiting, patience we miss all of this if we skip right to the end of the story and then throw the tree out on the sidewalk on Christmas night!

Since the time of Jesus there has been speculation on when He would return.  His closest followers believed that it would happen in their life time, not here we are some two-thousand years later still waiting and there are still people trying to predict when it will happen.

In the passage selected for this First Sunday of Advent, from the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus speaks to his followers about expectation and signs.  He speaks of the fig tree and how one knows that summer is coming when the buds appear.  Here in New England we know the seasons by the change in the leaves on the trees and temperature.

But the passage goes on to teach us about preparation and that we should not get caught up in the things of this world and not concern ourselves with the things of the next.  Jesus tells his followers not to be weighed down with the cares of this life and tells us to watch and pray that we will be ready.  Advent is a time for that watching and praying.  Just as we clean our house and prepare food when gusts are coming, we need to prepare room in our hearts for Jesus and allow him to come in and transform our lives just as he came into the world to transform it.

In Jesus day they were waiting for the Messiah to come, a military leader that would come and release them from their bondage and captivity.  The Prophets had spoken of this and they continued to wait.  Jesus came, not as a general, but as a tiny baby born to humble parents, with no place to lay his head except a feeding trough in a barn.  This small child, born with nothing to call his own, this tiny child who formed the world out of nothing, only asks for a little room to help change your life.  He did come to free them from their bondage but not earthly bondage but spiritual bondage. The hope and expectation of Advent is just that, that we will make room in our busy schedules in our days filled with shopping and parties, that we will make time and make room for him in our lives.

Much has been made of “keeping Christi in Christmas” and how there is a war on Christmas because the cashier at the local store says happy holidays rather than Merry Christmas and how some private corporation, whose sole existence is to make money, took trees off of their cups.  The real war on Christmas is that we do not make time for Christ.  We do not take time to read his words and meditate on them.  We are so upset that there is no manger on the town common but we do not take time to meditate on what it truly means.  The real war on Christmas is that we forget, we do not wait, we do not pause, we run right over Advent and rush Christmas.  That is the real war.

Take the time, serious time, to slow down during Advent and wait in hope, hope that you will make room in your hearts and in your lives for Jesus to come in, and hope that when he does, you will let him change you.  You will be glad you did.

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William Bradford’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Posted on by Fr. Peter

William-BradfordInasmuch 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 daytime, 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
Ye Governor of Ye Colony

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