Arriving in a New Land This year, what in some parts of the country is still called Columbus Day, falls on October 8. I was surprised when a chaplain colleague led a short worship in which he praised the explorer, noting his determination, his courage, his indomitable spirit. He celebrated Columbus for chancing upon a country no one else had discovered before. Of course, while Columbus may have shown great courage and determination when he crossed the ocean in the primitive vessels and with the rudimentary tools they had in those days, he and his crew were not the first people to arrive in North America. We know, for example,…