This is what William Bradford, leader of the Pilgrims, wrote one year after their arrival in the New World:*
"They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye som̅er ther was no wante. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter aproached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corne to ytproportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports."**
If, after enduring all the hardships they endured and being thankful for "all things in good plenty," wouldn't the Pilgrims be amazed at how abundant "all things in good plenty" North Americans now enjoy? And if, after enduring those hardships and the deaths of so many fellow travelers, wouldn't the Pilgrims be amazed at how many twenty-first century North Americans who have "all things in good plenty" still grumble at how miserable their lives are, how they must turn to addictive substances to overcome their "hardships," how they envy, and how in the midst of abundance so many simply want "more things in good plenty"? Why is it that so many of us who have so much want so much more?
*Just in case you weren't paying attention in elementary school: They landed in the New World in 1620.
**Available online at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24950/24950-h/24950-h.htm#a1621
"They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye som̅er ther was no wante. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter aproached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corne to ytproportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports."**
If, after enduring all the hardships they endured and being thankful for "all things in good plenty," wouldn't the Pilgrims be amazed at how abundant "all things in good plenty" North Americans now enjoy? And if, after enduring those hardships and the deaths of so many fellow travelers, wouldn't the Pilgrims be amazed at how many twenty-first century North Americans who have "all things in good plenty" still grumble at how miserable their lives are, how they must turn to addictive substances to overcome their "hardships," how they envy, and how in the midst of abundance so many simply want "more things in good plenty"? Why is it that so many of us who have so much want so much more?
*Just in case you weren't paying attention in elementary school: They landed in the New World in 1620.
**Available online at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24950/24950-h/24950-h.htm#a1621
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