BLACK FRIDAY'S GIFT
One Thanksgiving Night
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…List out the things she wants. List out the things they want. List out some things we NEED..
…Check the major sites I hit online (to find things I will NOT see organized the same way in the store). Waiver over whether to get this one thing online or in person. (Oh wait, it says I have to activate that price online but scan from the shelf with my app in person? ) Be intrigued by plenty I don’t need. Remember I haven’t told anyone what I WANT…
…Send out what I want. Can’t bear getting clothes identical to what I wore in high school again or another gadget for my junk drawer. Graphic socks seem to be in this year though (or have I slept a few years?) I’d better tell them what i’m into these days…
Mark the sales I need for myself. Never gonna see that cheap again… Gotta get last few drops of caffeine in so I can, I c, an , I’m fa d i n g …
Wake up, groggily hit the car. It’s Black Friday.
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It’s safe to say that MANY people do NOT like the Black Friday hustle, it may be something they tolerate as a means to an end, or they love deals and stuff so much that they are excited to just straight up go crazy and score everything they can. But by and large, the crowds, cranky attitudes, early mornings and lines for coffee or chicken biscuits are not a thing that anyone looks forward to. Even if it starts off well, by the end of your outing, you may just feel ticked at best and ready for New Years at worst.
I myself am prone to get annoyed with waiting, traffic, and crowded aisles on ANY day of the year; I’m a sucker for space, freedom and speed.
But I LOVE people.
And oddly, that’s where my affinity for Black Friday has come from and exponentially grown from over the years.
First off, there’s a nostalgia element. Every time I set out to brave the insanity, I remember what I was excited about and what I couldn’t wait for someone to open in future weeks. (I even remember times I would snag a game system or something big like that for myself - for a parent to give me - it was just life as a teenager back then and there’s some awesome memories attached with it.) I remember holding a job my 11th grade year which meant I finally had just enough of my own money to buy things for the people I loved, and wanted to make every $ count. Black Fri was an opportunity to make that happen, it became fun and a sense you were practicing an act of love too. I remember seeing things in person I’d never have known were on sale and realizing who I could get them for. There are so many memories I look back to of that excitement, that hunt. Honestly, of the inspiration it brought me each time, the creativity it sparked that would carry into the season.
Secondly, I actually love the concept of “bustle.” I’ve always loved the scene painted in the words of Silver Bells, and I love being around large crowds at Christmas. I understand some of that is my personality type, and I wouldn’t want to assume every type of person have the same affection for this as me. But over time, the thought of everyone having such a shared purpose in one place together has really made me appreciate those moments in a way that I thinking I can encourage others to do. We’re all out there doing this together, and some people go all out. Some people deck out in holiday outfits or headgear, others in extremely tacky cars. (No one needs a Christmas parade if you've already been to a 5 A.M. Knoxville TN Black Friday!) There’s fun and joy going on here. That’s an amazing thing to celebrate and recognize as good.
Sure, there’s a comfort for me in being around people, and people of the same interest. However, I believe more than that can translate to the bigger picture of good seen in Black Friday. What can be gleamed from it, regardless of personality type.
Heaven is Here
Here’s some thoughts you might connect with:
Gifts are powerful. (And if you need some weight to this, remember that the word Grace, itself, by definition means “Gift!”)
Gifts have significance for both the recipient and the giver.
With all this in mind, the whole experience of being out with other people from all over (planning the same exchanges and making decisions born out of the significance they - knowingly or unknowingly - believe gifting to have) is an incredible and awe-filling opportunity.
Some of you are going to PUNCH ME for saying this but…
Black Friday is a tangible example of Heaven on Earth.
Not necessarily in the business model or in the ways capitalism is designed (ahem… calling the activists back from the horn and to hear the nuance in all of this), but the overall experience - and what humans are doing out there in it - certainly is.
As with everything, you just have to have the eyes to see it. So let’s close them for a second and reopen them with a different lens, one that’s less concerned about the perceived chaos of busy places, less impeded by a need to be “done” with your “list” and “quickly” :
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Early mornings are known for times we can greet the day in anticipation. Solitude on a drive in early morning can be life giving on any day.
Pulling into the parking lot, you see many people wearing festive clothes. Christmas music is playing from nearby stores. The words are ancient, yet still sung, about a Savior born to the world. About peace, goodwill. (More on carols in a later post)
In a store you see tired but excited young parents. Ready to see the joy on their daughter’s face the morning she’s given something unexpected, undeserved. Friends, enjoying coffee and ribbing each other to stay awake. People are moving fast, starting to get tired, probably wondering if it was worth it. But you know that they are THERE. Likely, for most (in this anomaly of a season) for unselfish reasons.
There are simply MANY people HERE, and that’s a window into the crowding of Heaven. (You have to like being around people, at least some of the time, if you're gonna be with them forever. And God loves people, loves them with the same love he has for you.)
There’s the kettle people. The ringing bell. For ages, this has been an interaction where someone is volunteering for another. Where people have the opportunity to join in something bigger, with just some of what they have to give. A constant reminder this season is for others, and everyone is hearing it.
And through, above and around all of it, this Christmas music. How astonishing that these truths, this message, this hope is being broadcast at its base and considered by many!
Many will choose not to hear, many will not pick up on all of these beautiful, amazing realities we observe surrounding them today, but wow do we live in a special time in history that THIS is the scene and the bigger picture we are offered. It's a near unheard-of opportunity for all of these things to come together. What a miracle and a foreshadowing of the beauty of Heaven this can be if we’ll let ourselves see it.
Sure, there’s un-heaven-like attitudes and bad decisions and things that take advantage of others going on at a lot of turns in this scene as well. But the people are HERE, and that comes with the territory. That, by and large, these people are here for a similar purpose of blessing others, being creative with their resources, and acting out of their comfort zone in some cases, is a special, shared spirit that I think reflects the idea of Heaven very much. And it can open all of our eyes to wonder that such a thing is possible.
It can also open our heart and concerns to the many of these who do not see this, to those who need hope or those who may be longing to know Heaven is in front of them here in this moment.
Be A Better Door Buster
For this and other reasons, Black Friday is a terrific time to exercise some things that will strengthen your character. (Who’d have thought the day after Thanksgiving would have anything to do with “exercise” at all??)
It’s an opportunity to practice kindness, patience and more. People who are out in THIS need to see that modeled. It’s hard, it’s tough. But it’s a place we can sit in and realize we CAN respond with grace… even when a backed up line at Chic Fila causes us to miss our beloved Chicken minis, or when we get to the register at Old Navy after 30 minutes of waiting and the cashier incorrectly rings up double what we owe. There maybe also an opportunity here or there to live with a little less than our impulse suggests. All of these decisions are very impactful in the moment and in this context.
In summary, if you’re going out - embrace that! If you’re staying home - no shame! You’ll be out soon enough for one reason or another this season (I’m sure you can’t get it ALL truly done, up to your decorations, snacks, figgy pudding, etc. online). I’d just encourage you to open your eyes when you do.
And if this is a time to truly be selfless, stop knocking Black Friday because it doesn’t make sense to YOU, or because it doesn’t sound “spiritual enough” (or altruistic enough, fill in the blank) to YOU. Please don’t preach this to others. You’ll miss out on Black Friday’s gift, one that has the power to release others and that the Author of Grace deemed to reveal among the common - and still does today.
It’s not subject to the sales or the hours they run, but it IS right there, both surrounding and behind it all…
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