Five Kernels

In September 1620, approximately 100 English men and women set sail for the New World aboard the Mayflower. The ship landed on the shores of what we now know as Massachusetts and anchored at Plymouth Rock. It was there that they would form the first permanent settlement in New England. More than half of the original settlers died during the first winter.

The native people who lived in the area around the Plymouth Colony were members of various tribes of the Wampanoag people who had lived in the area for many years. Soon after settling there, the Pilgrims came in contact with Squanto, an English-speaking native. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, which became an important crop, as well as where to fish and hunt. Our Thanksgiving holiday stems from a feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest. Thanksgiving was proclaimed an official National holiday by President Abraham Lincoln on November 26, 1863.

There are many Thanksgiving traditions, but one of my favorites is the Five Kernels of Corn tradition. Many people follow a tradition of placing five kernels of corn on the empty plate at each place on the Thanksgiving dinner table. These five kernels of corn serve as a reminder of days when food was scarce and how God provides for our needs. Before the meal, each person removes each of the five kernels of corn from his or her plate and tells five things for which he or she has to be thankful.

This morning I have a plastic bag with 5 kernels of candy corn for each of you. They are to remind you of the meaning of Thanksgiving. It would be great idea if you would take the five candy corn kernels out of the bag at your Thanksgiving dinner and tell everyone else at the table five things for which you are thankful.

Here are five things I am thankful for:

• Kernel 1: I am thankful that God loves me.

• Kernel 2: I am thankful that God provides for my needs.

• Kernel 3: I am thankful for my friends.

• Kernel 4: I am thankful for my family.

• Kernel 5: I am thankful that God hears and answers prayers.

Let us Pray.

Dear God, Thank you for providing for all our needs and for loving us. We Love You! Amen.