As we approach Thanksgiving, I am thinking a lot about the program I saw Sunday night on The History Channel. It was called Desperate Crossing and detailed the events leading up to the pilgrims’ crossing as well as the crossing itself and what happened once they were here.

What I appreciated about the show was all the nuance it highlighted. How brave and admirable to leave one’s native country to practice one’s own religion. To patiently plan the departure. They endured sickness and stench aboard the Mayflower. How horrific that they stole the Indians’ crops and justified it in the name of religion. And, incidentally, that they kept referring to them as “savages.”

But the fact that it all culminated in Thanksgiving was soothing. A good TV experience.