Black Friday

The term perplexes me and I'm not at all sure I'm comfortable even forming the words in my mouth.

In today's culture, black represents death or the absence of light. Black is associated with darkness, evil, hiddenness, and the anti-norm. Why would one choose to give thanks on Thursday and at midnight be filled with excitement about "Black Friday"?

Perhaps, however, there is a correlation as it traditionally marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Think about it for a moment…spending money we don't have, purchasing gifts no one really needs, storefronts decorated with holiday scenes absent of the true meaning of Christmas, people shoving and grabbing and pushing ahead of others, unparalleled displays of selfishness and self-exaltation as shoppers flaunt their ability to buy the best gifts or be first in line for the best bargains. Yep…there is a correlation as the behavior of so many reflects anything less than the Light of the World whose birthday they claim to celebrate.

I've argued with myself even—I could sent out an email to the mailing list and offer special purchase prices for products that haven't sold that would increase the ministry's revenue this month. I could make an appeal on behalf of the "Christmas Spirit" asking friends and partners to help us provide for the mission outreaches in India, Kenya, and Uganda. But to do so would make my heart no different than the hearts of the money-hungry store owners manipulating the public into shopping at their store, maxing out their credit cards to fill their bank accounts. I won't do it although I admit a battle within even as I type this.

When I consider the millions of dollars being passed between customer and cashier today, I'm grieved. Can you imagine what even one percent of today's revenues would mean to a country like India or Uganda or Kenya? Can you even fathom what even a few hundred dollars would mean to the lepers who live on a pension equivalent to $1.50 a month? Can you imagine what a small investment would mean to pastors who give up their entire lives to minister the gospel to people in remote villages in India where Hinduism and superstition have blinded the eyes of so many? What about those in the regions in Kenya or Uganda where children sleep in piles of rubbish, abandoned to the streets to a life of drugs and prostitution? What about the widows whose husbands have died of AIDS who themselves have been infected—is there no relief for them? Can people actually spend all their money to buy toys that will be broken in a few days or clothes nobody really wants or technology that will fill the minds of young people with useless knowledge as they're dumbed-down and desensitized to life's real meaning?

I guess when I think about it, today really is a "black" Friday. Not in the sense the media has intended, but as we consider the culture of death that supports such an atrocious, nonsensical splurge of money that could mean the difference between life and death to those who will never know what it's like to open a prettily wrapped present lost in the menagerie of ribbons and sparkles under a brightly-lit tree supposed to represent life that can only be found in Christ.

We won't be going shopping today. It may be "Black Friday" for everyone else, but for us today offers another opportunity to sow into the Kingdom of God in the hopes we can make the difference for at least one person—one forgotten soul wondering if he or she will find enough garbage to exist at least one more day.

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© 2007 Jan Ross
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