'Pilgrims' documentary to explore early colonial history Nov. 24

Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, 102 S. Second St., will show the film "The Pilgrims" at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24.

Keeping perspective in today's world is a challenge, to say the least! Occasionally, it is good to look back and revisit the nation's history to reground ourselves. What better way to do that around Thanksgiving, the quintessential American holiday, than to reconsider the Pilgrims; what they were looking for and how they influenced American myth.

They were the least likely of task forces for establishing a permanent English presence in the New World. One hundred and two men, women and children in all - led by a band of radical Protestant extremists - woefully undersupplied and unprepared, but spurred on by the dream of establishing a new heaven on Earth on the shores of the New World.

Commemorated each year at Thanksgiving, no chapter in American history has been more clouded in myth, legend and venerable cliché than the story of the Pilgrims. And yet, the real story behind their historic voyage - who they were and where they came from; their harrowing first years in America and crucial interactions with Native Americans; and how and why we have come to remember them as we do - is a tale far more haunting and poignant than the one we think we know.

The 2015 documentary "The Pilgrims" explores the riveting true story of a small group of English Separatists whose determination to worship God as they saw fit planted the seeds of the American dream.

The film is part of the free monthly fourth-Friday Film programs that are sponsored by the Social Justice Team of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva. The public is encouraged to register at uusg.org/friday-flicks/ to receive email notices of future programs.

The Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, established in 1842 and the oldest church in Geneva, is a diverse, welcoming community that endeavors to make its covenant a living reality. It provides religious education and opportunities for spiritual growth. They encourage individual and mutual responsibility as together they work to be a liberal religious voice in the community and a force for compassionate social justice. For more information, visit uusg.org.