Black Friday

We tend to be an emotional people. We have good days and bad days depending upon how we feel or perceive the events which occur. We set aside special days to be remembered each year in their proper season. Some are bright joyous celebration days and others somber days of contemplation. There are the remembrances of sorrow or the death of someone close, some tragic natural catastrophe or the evil of wicked men perpetrated upon entire nations for selfish gain. We mark these special times with long speeches and visits to gravesites and vowing through diligent preparation to never allow them again. We also have days of celebration to remember like birthdays, anniversaries, personal and national victories; even times when united in moral strength of character, evil is dispatched far from us. We refer to the joyous days as celebrations or holidays and the other days as dark days.

And there are days when both of these are true. Days when we must celebrate joy on the same day which we commemorate sorrows. These are probably the most stressed filled days of our existence. In our family we celebrate each Christmas season remembering the loved ones who passed away at that time of year. Their remembered joyful presence is always a part of our days even when we shed a tear over their absence.

So it is with a profound sense of curiosity that we come to that one dark and sinister day of the year. With our own hands we have carved out of time to experience these vast emotional swings on purpose and with intent. We establish a day when great victories are exclaimed and tragic loss bemoaned by those not meeting the expectations planned well in advance. It is that morbid dreaded day known as Black Friday.

Many stores open their doors at midnight. Others allow long lines to form outside of their doors before opening them in the early hours of that Friday morning after Thanksgiving. It is a day when shoppers intend to purchase expensive gifts for less than they believe they were manufactured for. Shoppers save for months or plan to pay for months for the privilege of claiming their victories. Retailers and manufacturers spend staggering amounts of money strategizing prices and quantities and sales pitches for this on dark day.

So why call it Black Friday? Why not Super-duper low price high volume Friday? Or perhaps legal bait and switch Friday? (Does that reveal I’ve been burned?) Maybe Thanksgiving rewards Friday would be appropriate. We just spent an entire Day rejoicing in the goodness of the blessings of God and enjoying good food and fellowship. Maybe this is a day to enjoy the benefits of our kindnesses to each other while exercising off that extra slice of pumpkin pie.

Well the simple truth is that it is a day of financial necessity. The financial fate of the nation is touted to rest upon the results of this day. It is a day when many retailers must produce the lion’s share of their profit for the year just to stay in business. Black Friday is the day when many businesses finally get their financial books into the black. They hope it will be the day when profits finally exceed costs for their fiscal year. Yes, there may be a few black eyes from inadvertently thrown elbows as multitudes seek the same rare selections. And it is possible for a few black and blue bruises as rushing shoppers pummel each other in search of the treasure they have planned to acquire. There will even be the occasional black mark on someone’s police record for shoplifting or disturbance or some other minor offense.

But it is really just a day of trading the time and effort each has expended throughout the year for the toys, tools and trifles they feel are necessary to make their lives joy filled and complete. I truly wonder what their perspective would be if they could see the only thing they need to be complete in life is a real and rightly directed relationship with Jesus Christ. If only the things of this world could grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.