Today is “Black Friday” named to reflect the day each year most retail stores sell enough items to “be in the black for the year” and open before dawn in an attempt to grab their piece of the purchasing public’s “pie” on what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. Store parking lots have been filling up since the early hours of the morning with shoppers hunting for that “perfect bargain gift” for Christmas. It makes we wonder about (a great deal) our priorities as Americans.
When the nation was attacked on September 11th, we were told to shop so the terrorists wouldn’t “win” by depressing our economy. When the economy took a nose dive in 2008 we were told to keep shopping so the markets wouldn’t send us into a second Great Depression. It seems everywhere you turn a politician is suggesting we need to be shopping more.
Of course I’m not going to begrudge someone a little shopping today (or any day) for Christmas gifts, especially in a “down economy” when sales and bargains are so critical in our ability in purchasing “all those presents” we have on our lists. But isn’t that the problem?
Since when does a shopping list for Christmas have anything to do with how much we love each other as mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles, etc? Some economists suggest we haven’t seen the worst of the economy yet so I continue to ponder…what will America look like in the next twenty years?
Yesterday we supposedly spent the day being thankful for the blessings God had given us. All across the United States families gathered around a great banquet feast and enjoyed quality time set aside for giving thanks. I’m sure some families spent hours into the late evening remembering stories of childhood silliness with laughter and late night snacks, which makes the early morning parking lots even more humorous. One friend of mine posted on Facebook that he had been to four different stores before sunrise.
Is this really what makes America a great nation? I wonder how full our Church parking lots will be on Sunday morning (nowhere near dawn) as compared to shopping malls. “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” (Matthew 6.21) Where are YOUR priorities this Thanksgiving Weekend?
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