Black?

Have you heard of the term Black Friday? We all know it is where sales start at the beginning of the Christmas season. It is the Friday after Thanksgiving.

For centuries, the adjective "black" has been applied to days when calamities occurred. So, the word black is an interesting word to use for the Friday after Thanksgiving — a little history of Black Friday for those who do not know it.

The first known use of the term Black Friday to refer to the day after Thanksgiving was in the “Journal of Factory Management and Maintenance" in November of 1951 and 1952. The journal’s articles referred to the practice of workers calling in sick the Friday after Thanksgiving to have a long four-day weekend.

Then the term was used again by the Philadelphia and Rochester Police to describe the crowds and traffic accompanying the start of the Christmas season. The phrase started to gain national attention in the early 1980s when the merchants objected to the use of a derisive term to refer to the most important shopping days of the year. However, they changed their tune when the financial records started to go up during this time from being in the negative or the red to black, showing positive amounts of income at the year’s end. Now we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday to entice the American consumer to purchase products for Christmas.

When I sit back and think of the term Black Friday, I would have to say the term does bring the thoughts of calamities to mind along with other words such as disasters, catastrophes, tragedies, misfortunes, and blows. Even though great sales happen this day, so do some incidents that have taken place during this time when the not-so-good of man has come out.

We have all heard of fights breaking out in stores trying to get a sale item before it was gone, along with other things, such as people getting trampled when a store opens as people rush in to get the item they want on sale.

It also makes me think about how we have taken a holiday that represents the birth of our Savior Christ and commercialized it to a point where the actual meaning of this holiday is lost. That is an even bigger tragedy. We have allowed the world to take something that was of God and change it into something that is not.

Now, I am not saying that everyone has forgotten the meaning behind it all. Churches around the U.S. and the world try to make an impact so that the meaning will not be lost. The word black, I think, is a good word to show the start of the Christmas shopping season because many people’s hearts have gone black and darkened because they have lost the meaning of what Christ has done for them. This is evident because there has been a push in recent years to try to stop people from saying Merry Christmas and change it to Happy Holidays because Christ's name is mentioned.

All of this reminds me of something Paul wrote in Romans 1:19-23 when he said, “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.”

It is a slow process to change the minds of people, converting a Christian holiday into something different where materialism runs king, and the meaning of the holiday is lost. The heart of man is interesting because when it goes cold to God, priorities change. People have taken stuff and put it before God then and now. Materialism is one of today's idols, along with money, greed and want. This list can be long.

So, the question is, where is your heart? How do you celebrate this holiday? Do you remember Christ? The Christmas season is just starting. Let us all strive not to get caught up with what the world has to offer; instead, let us remain focused on what really matters, and that is Christ. Everything else will fade away, but a relationship with Christ is forever. In the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless everyone.” Have a great start to the Christmas season.