Finding Thomas Blossom, Reaffirming my Devotion

His name was Thomas Blossom.  Many of the Pilgrims had unusual names, but they didn't seem to mind.  He was a Puritan... a Separatist.  He was friends with William Bradford, the future governor of Plymouth that sailed on the famed Mayflower.  To the monarchy in England at the time, the Puritans were criminals.  They were jailed.  They escaped to Holland.  Eventually they, these Puritans, would sail to America and form a colony.

Thomas Blossom is, according to a couple different genealogy sites, my 11th great grandfather.

I've found some interesting people in my family line.  I can trace a couple of lines back to impressive European royalty.  I found Pocahontas's father, Powhatan, on my line last night.  (That was a surprise, since I didn't even know I had Native American in my line.)  I have found farmers just a generation or two away from Cambridge and Oxford grads.  I have enjoyed this journey, and am looking forward to more "digging" to see who is in my line.

Despite the rush of finding royalty, the thrill of discovering a line that traces back to Biblical times and Biblical people, finding Thomas Blossom and his wife, Anne, has probably been the most touching.  You see, as a homeschooling mom, I've done a LOT of reading about the Pilgrims.  I don't read the white-washed version that I was taught during my public school days. 

In England, Thomas Blossom and other Separatists did the unthinkable:  They read the Bible for themselves in English. 

In America we have Bibles in many languages and many versions.  Like the underground Chinese church, I can only imagine that the Pilgrims did not take for granted that they had a Bible available to them to read, study, and live. I wonder if my deep love for the Bible will ever match the fire of those that don't have the right to read it and study it and live it freely.  As Peter Marshall and David Manuel stated in The Light and the Glory:  "In comparison to them, our commitment to Christ seemed almost insignificant.  We began to be convicted of this, not by what the Pilgrims preached or wrote, but by the example of the lives they lived."

They had to meet in secret in England.  Their children would act as lookouts as Bible studies and worship was held at varying locations to avoid detection and arrest.  Reading an English Bible, not supporting the Church of England, was considered heresy.  Queen Elizabeth executed some of the Puritans.  King James was even more tyrannical.  The Separatists eventually fled to Holland, where they found religious asylum.

Holland gave them religious freedom, but it was a difficult life.  They had to work so hard and long that they grew sick.  It wasn't a rich life.  It took a lot just to have enough food for their families.  Even the children worked.  The parents were not happy to see their children lured into the ways of the children of Holland.

Thomas Blossom lived in Leiden during these years.  He went there with the others in 1609.  When the Puritans decided to become like the Israelites and journey to a new land, to become Pilgrims, Thomas Blossom and his family decided to go.

For whatever reason, Thomas Blossom wouldn't get to make that famous trip to America. After joining the other Pilgrims on two boats, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, the Speedwell developed problems and had to turn back.  Some of the Pilgrims joined the Mayflower, but not everyone could fit onto one boat.  So, Thomas Blossom and his growing family returned to Leiden.  It would be nine years (1629) before he could finally make his way to Plymouth and join his fellow believers.  Not long after he arrived in Plymouth with his family, he became a deacon for the church. Sadly, Thomas Blossom would only be in the New World a few years.  He passed away in 1633 due to illness. 

Many can trace their line back to Thomas Blossom, including our current president, Barack Obama. 

If only all those descendants had that same devotion to Christ that the Puritans held.  If even our current leader had that same devotion, our country would be a very different place.

Instead, like the Pilgrims, I see Christians being persecuted.  In America, we haven't been burned at the stake or jailed.  Right now Christians are being targeted in America for their Biblical views.  We are a joke, labeled as "haters" because, to disagree with popular culture is not allowed.  Christian business owners are being fined and sent to "re-education camps" for standing on Biblical principles.  The freedoms we assumed were guaranteed in the Constitution, those of religion and speech, are coming to mean less and are seemingly only supported by those with views that aren't Christian.  Even Pastor's sermons were recently subpoenaed in Texas because they "might" contain material that, though Biblical, is offensive to the current Mayor and others that don't agree with what the Bible states.

Almost daily it seems that another Christian is being sued for business practices that others feel is "offensive".  Non-Christians are often blatantly unsupportive of Christians in these circumstances, feeling that they "deserve it" or shouldn't follow a God that calls certain things sin or sets up a moral standard.  In one case, recently, I was told that there had to be "more to the story" for each of the numerous cases stated where the Christian business was seemingly targeted.  In other words, Christians must have somehow "asked" to be sued for standing by the Bible. 

I think of Thomas Blossom and his family.  He fled to Holland from England.  From there, he gave up his passage to America with many of the others, knowing he would eventually join them.  It had to have taken courage for Thomas and all the Pilgrims to make the tough decisions to live for Christ and follow His Word, even if it meant the consequences weren't easy.  It was not easy to live their faith in secret, praying they wouldn't be caught and jailed (even though they were).  It wasn't easy to leave their homeland in the hopes that they might be able to worship freely... and maybe one day see their beloved England with the same freedom.  It wasn't easy to decide to leave the "safety" of Holland for a little explored foreign land.  It wasn't easy to sell everything repeatedly, scrimping and saving for passage to that new land.  It wasn't easy to say goodbye to friends and family, knowing it was possible that you wouldn't see them again once you sailed.  I'm sure it wasn't easy to realize that one boat wouldn't be making the journey, and not everyone would be able to go on that first trip. It wasn't easy to watch your Christian brothers and sisters sail away, and you return to Leiden to go back to the life you thought was over.  I've no doubt it wasn't easy to hear, through letters, that half of the ones that sailed to America died that first winter.

I've come to a place in my faith where I don't feel the need to explain it or myself.  I make mistakes.  I sin.  I repent, sometimes daily, and ask the Lord to restore me back into His Will.  I am in a covenant relationship with the Lord.  When I read about the devotion of the Pilgrims, I feel a bit lukewarm.  Will I stand?  When the persecution stops being about the rights of some versus the followers of the Way, will I be prepared for what follows?  I wonder how long it will be before "freedom of religion" is no longer guaranteed, especially since the "freedom from religion" crowd seems determined to eradicate all Christianity from our nation.  Will I be ready to meet in secret?  Will I be ready to go to jail for my Lord? 

Christians often feel that these days won't happen here...not in America.  I wonder what is restraining the process of the complete overthrow of Biblical standards, and how long that restraint will remain. 

I hope that Christians that are devoted to the Lord in EVERY area of our lives will stand firm for Him.  I pray that the Lord guides His people in these times as He did the Pilgrims.  I pray that our devotion is just as deep, our trust in Him just as overwhelming, our walk with Him by the faith he desires, and not by the sight that can cause us to fear and stumble.  I pray that, like my ancestor, Thomas Blossom, that the spiritual fortitude has been passed down to me.  This has to be more powerful than the small amount of DNA we share.

Christians are, like the Pilgrims that founded this land, strangers in a strange land.  We aren't supposed to fit into it, and we aren't supposed to be overly comfortable.  I sometimes wonder if there is a land to go to escape the one that seems to wish to cease Christianity.  I know that God has not forsaken me and will never forsake His Bride.  God is not done in America yet.  He still longs that no one should perish without His saving grace.  We are here, like the Pilgrims were brought here, to fulfill God's plans.  He knows the end from the beginning,  The world and America may seem in chaos.  It is a scary place at times that is not giving Christians warm fuzzy feelings of acceptance.  We are more and more becoming outcast in the very land our ancestors founded based on Judeo-Christian beliefs.  Without Him, we won't stand. 

I can't even imagine my life without Him. I doubt that Thomas Blossom or any of the other Pilgrims could imagine their life without Christ.  Once they had read His Word, had walked with Him awhile, there was no turning back. Many of the Pilgrims learned Hebrew so that they would feel closer to Him.

What would you do to feel closer to Him?

 There can be no turning back for Christians now.  We MUST depend on Him to guide us.  We must love Him enough to want Him to invade every area and aspect of our lives.  We can't expect that a Sunday sermon will sustain us.  We must not be too comfortable any longer.