11/27/2025
All of America NEEDS TO READ THIS!
The Story Behind Bradford’s Words
William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, wrote these words years after the first Thanksgiving as he looked back on everything the Pilgrims had endured. When the Mayflower landed, they carried tools, supplies, and hopes of a new beginning — but within months, half their community had died from cold, hunger, and disease. Their possessions could not save them. Their strength was not enough. What kept them alive was something far more fragile and far more precious: peace.
Against all odds, the Pilgrims formed a friendship with Massasoit and the Wampanoag people. They shared food, knowledge, and mutual protection. This unlikely peace — not material abundance — is what allowed the small colony to survive long enough to celebrate that first harvest in 1621. When Bradford later wrote, “Let them be thankful who live together in peace,” he wasn’t merely reflecting on a meal. He was naming the true miracle: that two very different peoples chose cooperation over conflict.
Bradford also wrote these words as a warning. He saw later generations gaining comfort, wealth, and stability — and forgetting the lesson carved into the earliest days of their history. Prosperity, he feared, would make them forget that people matter more than possessions, and that gratitude begins not with things but with the relationships God has placed around us.
So this Thanksgiving, Bradford’s reminder still stands:
If you live in peace with the people around you, you are already blessed beyond measure.
People>Things
Happy Thanksgiving!