Thanksgiving . . . a wonderful time with extended family and friends; seeing people you haven’t seen for a while; stuffing yourself with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and all the varieties of pie that you smelled baking the day before; staying up late playing card/board games; talking; watching cinema; laughing as old, old stories are swapped back and forth of great memories; giving thanks to the One who has provided for America, and making the Thanksgiving day another great memory in the hall of fame . . . to wake up early the next day and get beat up in a department store?
Unfortunately, this post is not about Thanksgiving, so I can’t give a large rundown of all the great ways my family celebrated it! Yet, this post can be linked to Thanksgiving because Black Friday is always the day after it. Don’t you think it odd that one day, we are supposed to be giving praise and gratitude to God for the greatness of His bounties and blessings and for who He is, and the very next day we are supposed to be trying to buy as much as we can before the next person does? Do you find irony in the fact that one day you are saying how grateful to God you are for what you have, and the next day, you are chucking those things out in your frenzy to buy things new?
I am not against shopping. I am also not against shopping smart, looking for deals, sales, markdowns, etc. Am I even against going to a store the day after the fourth Thursday in November? No.
Do I think it ungrateful or miserly to partake of the Black Friday rush to buy all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can? Generally, yes. Am I saying you have to sleep in on Black Friday? That’s what I did, but no, I’m not saying you have to. I am saying, rather, that if you go to a department store on Black Friday, be careful! Be careful of others who may push you, but be more careful that you do not push others. Remember Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Personally, I find it easier to sleep in. Let others get the best deals. Don’t worry; you will still have plenty of deals before Christmas. Don’t buy into the advertising frenzy that can take this nation by storm. Follow me, if you want to, and sleep in next Black Friday. It’s also healthy and natural after all that turkey you’ve eaten and fellowship you’ve had with others.
Merry Christmas to come!
Joshua Reynolds on Conservative Cornerstones – Author of Children’s Books / Family Stories – Finding Conservative Thought in Olde Books. Check out my Authoring Conservatism Post. Look up my two books, The Williams House and Treasure on the Southern Moor in my bookstore!