Thought for Today
Leviticus 23:11 He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall raise it.
1 Samuel 20:27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today?"
Matthew 28:1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
Acts 20:15 We sailed from there, and on the following day we arrived opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the day after that we came to Miletus.
Almost everywhere in the U.S.A., today is known as Black Friday. There are numerous ‘legends’ about the history of the term. Irrespective of its origins, since the late 1980s the term has become ubiquitous for the day after Thanksgiving. I suspect that for many retailers, Black Friday is their true Thanksgiving Day as debit entries in their accounting ledgers morph into credit entries.
The Editorial on yesterday’s Opinion page in the Boston Globe began, “Thanksgiving has generally resisted the consumerism of most major holidays – as if corporate America has a tacit agreement to leave at least this one day alone.” I do often wonder in what world the editorial staff of the Globe might live. Certainly not the one most of us inhabit. The editorial does go on to clarify that sentence by noting that we don’t see a lot of Thanksgiving-specific holiday decorations and don’t hear Thanksgiving carols blaring over the shopping mall speakers or the elevator speakers.
To that extent, Thanksgiving has escaped the commercialization of Christmas and the more limited commercialization of Easter. Conversely, of all of our holidays, religious or secular, none other have a ‘day after’ mania. Additionally, I cannot imagine that the economic impact of all the combined sales of lights or holiday music come close to the combined sales of all the Black Friday sales.
I do remember when this whole mania first appeared on my own horizon. My memory may not be as sharp as it was in the 1980s, but I am certain that even the advertisements for the sales did not begin around Halloween as they do now. I am positive that the Black Friday Sales did not themselves begin around Halloween as they sometimes do today. Those sales in the 1980s did not last for weeks and days either.
As I listen to the television news this morning, I cannot help but wonder about David. Was he absent “on the second day, the day after the new moon” because he was at the mall for a Black Friday Sale? Did Paul touch down at Samos and Miletus because they had great shopping malls with extended Black Friday sales?
I suspect that my thoughts about Thanksgiving and Black Friday are strongly influenced by what I have seen and continue to see about the commercialization of Christmas and Easter. Christmas and Easter were originally completely liturgical holidays commemorating and celebrating specific Christian events. Thanksgiving is somewhat less so. The event itself was not about an event in the life or death of Jesus, the Christ. Irrespective of which tradition of the origin of Thanksgiving one accepts as the most accurate, we would all agree that some of the original participants were Christian, some were not. With every traditional history of its origin, however, an integral reason for the celebration was to thank our Creator God for his provender and bounty.
To be sure, I am not opposed to being frugal, I am not anti-optimization of expenditures. Admittedly, as a male, I do not understand shopping as a competitive sport. I feel no compulsive need to find the ‘best deal.’ My own personal definition of a good deal is one where both parties, buyer and seller, believe they got a good deal. Whether or not I become a participant in today’s consumerism mania will depend on how soon I get my required tasks for the day completed.
Mostly, I hope and pray that we can all remain focused on the original intent of Thanksgiving Day, being thankful to our Creator God for all God has given each and every one of us. I hope and pray that all God’s children and especially Christians remember to thank God every day for being God, for creating Creation, for loving all of God’s children. As I write, I hear the voice of Louis Armstrong singing in my mind, “What a Wonderful World.”
Stay safe, be thankful, trust God,
Pastor Ray