John Howland’s Thanksgiving
Psalm 37: 23-29
The journey of the Mayflower is one of the most familiar nautical voyages in our history.
Leaving Plymouth, England for the New World, with Puritans escaping the oppression of King
James and adventurers hoping to start a new life as passengers, it was heading for Jamestown, Virginia,
where there was already a British settlement.
A storm got them off course, and they ended up at Cape Cod – Provincetown to be exact, then
crossed the bay and dropped anchor at the place we now call Plymouth, Massachusetts. This was on
November 9, 1620.
And her passengers disembarked and began a whole new life.
As we have heard the story numerous times, that first winter was brutal – many of the
Mayflower’s passengers died.
And when she left for her return trip to England on April 5, 1621, some of her passengers on the
trip over returned. Giving up on an experiment that, seemingly, had failed.
But one man who did not return was John Howland.
Born around 1591 in England, he embraced the Puritan faith as a young man. Since his family
was poor, he ended up becoming an indentured servant for the wealthy Carver family, who were also
Puritans. And when the Carvers, like many other Puritans, left England for the Netherlands, to escape
the persecution of the Church of England, Howland went with therm.
Later, he returned to England with them, joining them as they boarded the Mayflower, seeking
religious freedom in the new world. It was a rough trip for all the passengers, but especially for John
Howland. For a ferocious storm struck the ship and he was washed overboard. He was able to save
himself by grabbing hold of a rope attached to one of the sails and was pulled back on board.
Which, just as an aside, was a good thing for his numerous descendants, who, besides Edgar
Stites who wrote the words to the hymn we just sang, include First Lady Edith Roosevelt (Teddy’s wife),
both Presidents Bush, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the Baldwin brothers.
He was also one of the men who signed the Mayflower Compact, which established the new
colony of Plymouth, and served as not just a servant, but as an assistant to John Carver, who was the
colony’s first governor.
But the most important thing about John Howland is the fact that he did stand there on the
shore on April 5, 1621 and watched as the Mayflower went back.
And he stood there in faith. In trust. In confidence. In boldness. With the knowledge that, as God
had gotten him this far, the Almighty was not going to abandon him.
Even though that first winter had been extremely difficult, and half the settlers died.
Because, as his descendent wrote nearly 250 years later, he was going to trust Jesus.
For Thanksgiving is not just a day to express gratitude for the gifts God has given but to express
the radical trust in the God who gives us all we need, protects us as we need, and is all we need.
I don’t know exactly what John Howland had to eat during that first winter. Probably not much
more than almost everyone else. Even the Carver family, who were well off in England and the
Netherlands, didn’t have that much.
But John Howland trusted Jesus. Trusted Jesus to provide what he needed. And even though
there were probably days when he was tempted to see the glass as half empty, he chose to see it as half
full.
Our dinner tables tomorrow will probably be of the ‘groaning board’ type – the kind painted by
Norman Rockwell. Certainly more than on the table where John Howland sat until the colony really
began to thrive several years later (that famous feast we see in pictures didn’t happen until at least
1623!)
But we all have those days when the glass is decidedly half-empty – at least as we see it. But
that’s when John Howland just might say to us – trust. Just trust the One Abraham called Jehovah-Jireh –
God will provide.
Even in the winter of our souls.
I cannot imagine what was going on in John Howland’s mind - and soul – when he was swept
overboard by that fierce storm.
He trusted God, I am sure, but I’m just as sure that he was afraid. Until he grabbed hold of that
rope.
You’ve probably all heard the expression: When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and
hang on. Well, when we trust God, He will hand us the rope. That doesn’t mean we won’t be afraid. That
doesn’t mean we won’t get the shivers and goosebumps. That doesn’t mean that the lights won’t fade –
at least a bit. What it does mean is that God will always have a hand out to lift us up.
Even when we are afraid.
John Howland had legitimate reasons to be afraid in those first few months, what with half the
population of Plymouth dying before his eyes. Oh, and Governor Carver himself died in April of 1621,
not long after the Mayflower left on her return voyage.
Maybe John had a moment or two when he wondered if he had made the right decision. Fear
can creep in through even the smallest crack in our souls.
But he persevered and trusted – fear was not going to conquer him!
We will all be afraid of something, but as Paul wrote to Timothy: Perfect love casts out all fear.
And as long as we hold on to the rope of God’s love, we will not be defeated by fear.
John Howland had no idea what was going to happen to him when he chose to remain in
Plymouth. He only knew that he wasn’t going to go back to England. What was there for him there?
Persecution for his faith? Poverty? Loneliness? Why return to what was even though what would be was
uncertain?
Of course, one thing that was certain was his trust in God. He trusted that the next day would be
better than the day before. Those great words from Jeremiah likely rang in his soul: I know the plans I
have for you; plans to prosper you.
John Howland did pretty well for himself. When both Governor Carver and his wife died, leaving
no children, he inherited their estate. He had several important posts in the Plymouth colony, and
established a prosperous fur trade.
But that wasn’t what was important to him. What was important was that every day, he looked
toward the future that God offered him; he looked to where he was going rather than to where he had
been.
And that really is the definition of trust – radical trust.
Do you remember all the fuss generated about Y2K? Since computers – we were told – might
not drop the 19 and pick up the 20 when the year 2000 entered, the banks would close, stores would be
without food, and society, in general, would collapse.
There was a couple in our church who went out before Y2K and bought huge quantities of food,
so convinced were they that they might starve. They had enough blueberry muffin mix to make enough
muffins to feed all of us many times over.
And when Y2K came, and went, with barely a blip, well, they had a lot of egg on their faces –and
not the powdered kind in their basement.
So did a lot of other people, too, who had assured us that civilization would grind to a halt.
John Howland had no idea what was coming when he stayed in Plymouth, but he knew this – he
could trust the one who was there in the past, stood by him in the present, and was waiting for him in
the future.
When we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow – no matter how or when or where – may we take a
lesson from John Howland. As it was for him, may it be for us, a day of trust – trust in our God who gives
us all the things we are thankful for.
Trusting – that is all.