Dear Grandchildren:
What a crazy year this has been. The virus and election news is non-stop, I think we will be ready for 2021.
This month, I’m giving you a little history lesson. Can you imagine if in 2021, our government would pass laws to disband all churches and the only church allowed was a national church run by the government? And of course, it was purely a political church for the government.
This happened four hundred years ago in England. The King was in charge of the church, and it became a political tool to control the people. There was no freedom of religion, so Christian faith came to a new world.
On November 9, 1620, a small ship spotted land that would later become known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The passengers on the ship had spent 66 days on the voyage, enduring sea sickness and dangerous storms. Historically, we know them as pilgrims and their ship was the Mayflower. They made the perilous journey for one major reason: to live where they could freely practice their Christian faith as they chose.
When you visit Plymouth Rock and walk around the replica of the Mayflower moored in its harbor, it’s difficult to imagine how 102 pilgrims and 25 crew could’ve crammed into the ship and endured the hardship of the voyage successfully. Their faith was their motivating factor. Why did they feel the need to take such a risk?
And imagine arriving in a new land in November, at the beginning of winter, with no dwelling and food. Of the 102 who came, 45 of them would die during the first winter. But they came because they wanted to practice their faith in Jesus Christ. That was their first long winter.
Some ten years later, another Christian group called the Puritans would also come to America and their numbers would swell to 20,000 people when the migration was over.
From 1675 to 1725, about 23,000 Quakers made their way to the new world from the northern Midlands of England. They settled in the Delaware river area of what is now Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Quakers had endured horrible persecution from the Church of England.
Long before we became a nation on July 4th, 1776, we had many Christians all throughout the thirteen colonies. It was also stated that when the schools started, the main book studied was the Bible. Can you picture that in our own schools today?
Also, the first college founded by the colonies was Harvard in Cambridge, near Boston in 1636. The purpose of the school was to train ministers.
So, Grandchildren, realize America was founded by men and women who wanted to practice their faith as they were led by God. Never let someone say otherwise.
In closing, don’t forget to cast your vote next week and never take your freedoms for granted. Many countries don’t have the freedoms we enjoy.
Until next month,
I love you,
Grandpa