The Miracle That Saved America || Squanto, the Pilgrims, and Thanksgiving

So there's one story that I really love in American history and it's really the story that

saved

America, in many ways. And I mean that literally: He LITERALLY

saved

America, but he also saved America figuratively, later. So years ago, back in the 17th century, long before Europeans had really settled in the "New World," a young Native American boy was kidnapped by Europeans. His name was Squanto. He was taken from his homeland and sold into slavery in Spain. Now, the story, or account, is a little vague about what happened to him after that moment, but after several years, Squanto somehow, miraculously, found his way back home.

And after all this struggle, after all this pain, after all this anguish of fighting to return home, he arrives there, to the place where he had lived, and everything disappears. His family, his friends, everything, gone. What historians believe is that they were wiped out by a mixture of famine and plague. So you have to put yourself in Squanto's shoes, right? They took him from his homeland and after all this fighting, he returns home; No doubt he is excited to return home and then discovers literally, LITERALLY, that the earth is covered in the bones of his people.

He joins a neighboring tribe and years later another group of Europeans arrives in the new world. And we know these people as the Pilgrims. And they were actually trying to get to a very different place of land in the United States, but they end up, due to the storm, the misdirection, and actually the confusion (they didn't know what they were doing), they end up exactly in the place . Squanto's homeland. In fact, William Bradford says something to the effect of building his community on the bones of a Native American people that had died out before they got there.

Well, while they were building this community we know as Plymouth, things weren't going so well. And during the winter many people died. At first there were about a hundred people (on the Mayflower) and when the winter ended there were about fifty people. And now you have to put yourself in the place of the Pilgrims. You think you're doing God's will, you think you're doing the right thing, you're doing everything you can to get ahead in life, and it just doesn't work. So either they have to get out of there or they're just going to die. That's the—that's the honest truth.

They will all die if someone doesn't help them. And at the end of winter a

miracle

happened. A young man entered the camp and spoke to them in English. Now, he was broken English; He was actually a messenger sent by Squanto, basically to say a few words and tell them: "You have to talk to Squanto, he knows English." And then, later, the

pilgrims

met Squanto, who spoke more or less fluent English because he had lived, as a slave, in Spain and, eventually, in England. And this... this is a

miracle

on many levels because Squanto, at that time, taught them how to grow corn, how to survive in that area.

That's a miracle, in and of itself. He saved their lives, physically. But there's more than that. I mean, this is a man who was literally kidnapped by the English and sold into slavery. They took everything from him. The English then return to their homeland, settle there and take it all back, right? So you have to imagine him looking at these people and seeing them build on the bones of his people. This is a person who has every reason in the world to hate—HATE—the English and say, "You know what? I'm going to let them die like they let MY people die." But he did not.

He forgave. And that is a miracle. Because if he had not forgiven them, if he had not helped them, this nation would not exist. I mean, you and I and the people watching this video probably wouldn't exist. Because the Pilgrims, after surviving that experience, thanks to Squanto, were able to send communications back to England and say, "Now we can live here." And that really started the migration of the Puritans to New England. That's what caused it. That's why we celebrate Thanksgiving and Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims. And we celebrate it thanks to Squanto, really. At first I said this was a miracle that saved America, but it was also a story that saved America.

And what I mean by this is that hundreds of years after this event occurred, the United States was involved in the Civil War. And it wasn't just a battle over states' rights and slavery and anti-slavery, it was that, but it was also a battle for the soul of America, right? What does the United States represent? What kind of country are we? Because you could argue that America began in Jamestown, Virginia, right? There is the story of the origin of the United States. And that story is very "commercial", right? It's about growing tobacco, about slavery, about turning the United States into a very commercial enterprise.

Doing everything possible to make money. But you could also argue that America began in Plymouth. That was the origin of America. And if you make that case, then you include the story of the Pilgrims and Squanto. And Abraham Lincoln took that story, that origin story, and said, THIS is America. And that story has become our story as a nation, right? He said: Let's celebrate Thanksgiving. Because when the Pilgrims got through that horrible, terrible winter, they gathered together later and celebrated what we call "The First Thanksgiving." Obviously, it looked a little different than what we celebrate now, but the idea is very similar: Gratitude to God.

Very grateful to be alive. And celebrate with people you may not agree with. People you forgive. People you hug. People you bring and share a table with. Abraham Lincoln put his life into this. He literally gave his life for this idea of ​​America. In fact, in his second inaugural address he said, "No malice toward anyone and charity for all." And they are involved in this Civil War. They are concluding these intense hatreds and rivalries and he says: Sorry. Let's let it go and let's all sit down at the table and celebrate our common humanity. And so, it really is a story that saved America.