In his book, Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrook recounts an incident in the Plymouth colony that is instructive in today’s American society.

It was agreed that the colonists needed to build a wall of protection around their village. The wall would be built of timbers cut, sized, hewn, dragged and dropped into a hand-dug trench around the 2,700 foot perimeter. It was a “gargantuan” task for the fifty or so men who lived with the constant dread of imminent attack and the gnawing hunger from lack of adequate supplies.

A new group of adventurers had recently arrived from England bringing new problems and pressures upon the leaders of the fledgling colonists. Not the least of which was differing views and religious practices which created serious conflicts. During the construction of the wall, for example, the “Strangers” insisted on taking Christmas day off to celebrate. The Pilgrims treated it like any other day and insisted on continuing the work on the wall, but relented until they discovered the “Strangers” engaging in “gaming and reveling” in celebration rather than quiet, prayerful reflection. Governor Bradford was incensed that they should be playing while others worked and so confiscated the “gamesters balls and bats.”

Writing about this confrontation years later, Bradford claimed it was “rather of mirth than of weight.” And yet, for a young governor who must confront not only the challenges presented by a hostile Native nation but a growing divide among his own people, it was a crucial incident. It was now clear that no matter how it was done in England, Plymouth played by its own, God-ordained rules, and everyone – Separatist or Anglican – was expected to conform.

It seems never to have occurred to the Pilgrims that this was just the kind of intolerant attitude that had forced them to leave England. For them, it was not a question of liberty and freedom – those concepts, so near and dear to their descendants in the following century, were completely alien to their worldview – but rather a question of right and wrong. As far as they were concerned, King James and his bishops were wrong, and they were right, and as long as they had the ability to live as the Bible [directed], whey would do so.

The Pilgrims had come to the New World to live and worship as they pleased. But with a growing contingent of Strangers in their midst, what had seemed like such a pure and straightforward goal when they were planning this endeavor back in Leiden [Holland] had become more complicated [bold italics added]…In the years ahead, the growing rift between Saints and Strangers led to the metamorphosis of the colony. (Mayflower, pages 128-129)

American society is still made up of a great many individuals and groups whose beliefs & practices can, at times, create great conflicts. That is the story of the human experience. The rift, from time to time, grows intolerable and we war.

What we all should be thankful for today, beyond turkey, football, family and friends, is that we have a system of governance that allows us to repair the rift and in the repairing come out on the right side of things. In a very real sense, the issue is today, as it was then – and has always been – not so much about liberty as it is about getting it right and not going wrong.

And for that we are beholden, now as then, in the guiding hand of Divine Providence.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” –Psalm 100:4-5