Why did they do it?

In the children’s animated movie “An American Tail,” Fievel, a tiny immigrant mouse, has arrived in America but has been separated from his parents and faces this new world alone. In an especially poignant scene, he stands on the docks, looking at a twinkling star and sings, “And even though I know how very far apart we are — It helps to think we might be wishin’ on the same bright star.” The sight of Fievel standing alone and wondering if he will ever see his family again always makes me teary-eyed.

I imagine a similar scene occurring back “home” in Europe with the family who said “goodbye,” knowing they would never again see those who were leaving for the New World. It’s personal as I think about those families who knew that leaving was the right decision but still suffered at the leaving.

Why would anyone choose to leave family and home and embark on a voyage that was dangerous to a land that was unsettled and uncertain? Historian Lewis Mumford wrote that “the settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe.” Profound.

Europe during the Early Middle Ages, the 8th to 11th centuries, is often depicted as stable following the chaos that accompanied the fall of the Roman Empire. Life was simple and predictable and individuals fit into one of three categories: those who pray (1-2% who served the Church), those who fight (3-4% who ruled or fought alongside their rulers), and those who labor (95–97% who lived the confined lives of serfdom). But, the High Middle Ages changed the political, social, and religious ties that had held people firmly in an assigned role.

When Christopher Columbus sailed off under the Spanish flag, he was building on knowledge that had been obtained through other forays into the unknown — the Crusades to free the Holy Land and the overland and sea voyages to the intriguing Far East whose spices, teas, fabrics, and more could now reward success for a rising middle class of merchants, traders, and other entrepreneurs. New technology and rapidly expanding knowledge, always a component of change, had become the norm. Navigational devices, ship and sail innovations, and even more accurate maps encouraged exploration. As Europeans began to look outward and refute the strong lines that separated “peoples,” they looked inward and began to dream about the “what ifs” of life.

And life in Europe changed.

Politically, the new wealth in Lisbon, Venice, and Florence challenged the old structures. Powerful city-states rose in Italy first and then across the continent. Alliances between wealthy new rulers and the Church gave rise to a consolidation of power in Spain, the British Isles, France, and in parts of the German lands. Leaders reveled in their wealth, building glorious palaces filled with beauty — paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and windows of stained glass — and rewarding their loyal subjects and striving to increase their lands and vast holdings. Exploration held the possibility of increasing wealth and political influence and could be justified by including a religious goal, the spread of the true faith.

But the upheaval in the political and social realm was spreading quickly to the one segment of life where questions were not allowed. And yet, men and women of conviction began to question the wealth and opulence of the Church and what appeared to be its unwillingness to truly minister to the needs of the poor. The idea of “take up your cross and follow me” seemed to have been replaced by indulgences, rituals, and a Church busily accumulating its own wealth, power, and armies. And while those who labor were denied the right to read the Scriptures, there were those within the Church who knew the texts, witnessed the discrepancies, and chose to speak.

Martin Luther, scholarly monk, theologian, and writer, never set out to rip apart Christendom; he simply desired a purification of the Church and its practices. Instead, his “95 Theses” and his idea of “justification by faith alone” became more than the basis for discussion within the Church’s leadership. If man could have a personal relationship with the Creator based on faith and grace, what now was the role of the Church that had previously been the mediator between God and man?

What indeed.

Within 20 years, other religious voices had joined Luther’s in questioning the “one true Church,” each adding his own interpretation to the Scriptures. As Luther had been inspired by Erasmus and Wycliffe, he in turn motivated Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, John Knox, and others to turn to the word of God and turn the word into action. Instead of one answer, suddenly Europe was bombarded with differing and often opposing views regarding the most important question — eternity.

“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe.” The fabric was unraveling…