by Elaine Rassel

This week opened with my sister Carolyn’s, husband, Clifford “Ike” passing away.
They live in Spencer and when he was taken to the hospital, they knew his problem needed more than they could do to help him. Sioux Falls hospital was “full” so he was taken to a Des Moines hospital where he passed away.
His funeral was Friday at 10 o’clock at Bethany Lutheran Church with burial following in a mausoleum in a local cemetery.
That evening Bethany was down feeding her kitten family and one of them came to see her as she drove in the driveway. She ran over him and feels terrible about it. She truly loves those kittens.
The school board meeting was in Remsen on Monday evening. It was a short one as they couldn’t re-organize because the organizational meeting must take place after the canvas of voting results, which cannot happen until Nov. 16, which is one day after our regular Nov. board meeting. So, they will re-organize at the December meeting.
Thursday evening poet Tom Montang was at the Marcus Public Library to read to us. He was a very interesting speaker. The poems he read dealt with farm life_and that is what we are in this area. He was able to come to the Library because of a generous donation from the Lois Krekow Residuary Trust, in memory of Lois Krekow. Kay Krekow and husband, Dr. Harry Dunstan have returned to the Krekow farm to live.
On Sunday, December 5 from 1:30 to 2 p.m, Harry, tenor, and Kay soprano will raise the roof at the Plymouth County Historical Museum (335 1st Ave SW, Le Mars)
It is a FREE event, so come and join them for this half hour.
On the second Monday of Each Month (6:00-7:30 p.m. at Marcus Pizza Ranch) there will be readings_December 13 is Holiday Edition sharing what inspires you in this season of giving! January 10_bring your favorite works about winter! February 14_You know the subject, come share the Love! No reservations are required, just purchase your supper and join us in the Party Room, or…just join us!
Even though Thanksgiving was coming up, so were the little kids’ Christmas letters that I have to have in by Dec. 16. A few weeks ago, Kathy Yoder (religious writer for S C Journal) commented on how she would finish with one week’s column, and it was time to start another. She is right about “dead lines” and immediately start work again.
I called Sandra Johnson on Tuesday to wish her a Happy Birthday. She isn’t having the “leaves to be picked up” problem we have in this area. Most places have to have leaves picked up two times. Some of the trees are keeping their leaves until the very last! Then, there are those who don’t do anything with their leaves but leave it to the wind to blow some of them to their neighbors which doesn’t make a happy camper of the neighbors.
What We Could Learn From The Pilgrims
Rather than tell the story of the First Thanksgiving, I am going to tell what we, today, could learn from the Pilgrims.
The Mayflower’s voyage to the new world was a “survival test” on a huge scale. The passengers had sold their possessions and had to work for years to pay for their passage. The ship had no heat or plumbing. Storms raged, and a main beam cracked in mid-ocean.
But after more than two months on the Atlantic Ocean, this band of 102 people arrived before Christmas, 1620. William Bradford wrote in his journal, “Being thus arrived at a good harbor, and brought safely to land, they fell on their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof.” What a celebration that must have been! Then after Christmas, a serious sickness broke out and in the next three months, nearly half the Pilgrims died. Hunger and illness stalked them, but they never wavered in their purpose.
Today, if these Pilgrims could observe our troubled world with its disillusioned outlook, its rebelliousness and its erosion of traditional values, they would be not only dismayed but also shocked. However, since their time, certain things have not changed. There is still lust, greed, hatred and prejudice in the human heart. There is still persecution and war in the world.
The Pilgrims have left us an example of their deep, unwavering religious convictions. They believed in their own dignity, were confident that their cause was just, and walked with an uprightness that only fearless and free people can display.
In our day agnosticism, anxiety, emptiness, meaninglessness, have gripped much of our world—and even the Church. People are broad but shallow. Our youth are desperately searching for purpose and meaning and fulfillment in their lives.
The Pilgrims left us an example of disciplined living. They were Puritans who were ready to order everything—personal life, worship, the church, business affairs, political views, and even recreation—the word “Puritan” itself in the contemporary mind identifies those who followed a strict and closely regulated life.
The Pilgrims have left us the example of freedom under law. The Mayflower Compact forged before the Pilgrims left the ship was the wedge that opened the door to a government controlled by the people, a government that has endured in the United States for centuries. Most historians agree that the Mayflower Compact was the forerunner of the Constitution of the United States. This little band of people searched for an equitable manner of earning a living and for a way of survival. They tried living a communal lifestyle, but, according to Governor Bradford: “This communal system conceived by Plato was found to breed much confusion.” When communal living failed, they assigned a parcel of land to every family; with individual enterprise, prosperity came to the colony. There are young people that are enjoying “absolute freedom” free to take narcotics, dress as they like, etc.
The Pilgrims left us an example of a people who had keen social concern. They believed that every person was made in the image of God, that each one was of infinite value and worth in the sight of God. They lived with Native Americans who had a different religion, a different skin color and a different culture.
In March of 1621 Chief Samoset visited the Pilgrims’ village and signed a peace treaty that lasted for many years. It was a treaty with high social and ethical content, showing a deep concern for the social, political and spiritual needs of neighbors. Though the Pilgrims knew that they were citizens of another world, they sought to improve the world they were passing through. The Pilgrims made their new world better, not by tearing down the old, but by constructive toil and fair dealings with their neighbors.
The Pilgrims at Plymouth were followed by the Puritans at Massachusetts Bay. Together they built churches and schools. These settlers came to the new world not only to find freedom for themselves but also to tell others of their faith.
For “where there is no vision, the people perish,” The Pilgrims dreamed great dreams. They dreamed of a haven for themselves and for their children. They dreamed of religious freedom. They dreamed of a world where God would rule the hearts of men. They lived and died with these hopes. If we so chose, we too could become like the Pilgrims. We could regain hope. They lived and died with these hopes. The Pilgrims’ strength of spirit was forged by a personal in their faith.
Today it seems that many of us have neither vision nor hope. But if we so chose, we too could become like the Pilgrims. We could regain hope. We could recover the spiritual and the moral strength that we have lost.