Well, I experienced my first...and last famous "Black Friday"! I have been pondering it for a few days and I will share my thought on it.
When I joined religious life in 2005, Black Friday was not in existence yet....or if it was I do not remember it. When I heard about it I wondered why would it be called "Black Friday"? So this year, there was one item I had been checking out for months to see if it would ever go on sale and sure enough, it was going to be on sale for $10.oo off with a mail-in $20.oo rebate...only if you purchase it on "Black Friday" between...4.00am-1:00pm...ugh. So, I decided to get there by 5:00am so I would be sure to get the item. By the way, while driving to the Mall at that time of the morning I finally realized why it is called "Black Friday" LOL!
I walk into the store and the department I needed had been moved...at the very back of the store. I S-Q-U-E-E-Z-E-D my way through the crowd, picked up my item, stood in line, then S-Q-U-E-E-Z-E-D my way back through the even bigger crowd now and out of the Mall I went, to Chic-fil-a for a breakfast biscuit, then back home to bed! Happy that I had gotten the item I had patiently been waiting for at a good price! And happy I might add that I was not at Wal-Mart taking a chance of getting beaten up over items!
Then I begin to reflect on that experience and all the stories of the Wal-Mart shoppers who set out to "defend" their "precious" items at any cost and just sit with it for a long time. Here is what came.
I begin to shed tears as I scanned the crowded parking lots, the people striving to reach their desired items in such anxiety and frantic dispositions. I thought, wow, is this what Christmas, a time of tremendous peace, gratitude, love, joy, hope, has come to in the USA??!! That people would get up at the crack of dawn just to be able to get the "deals" they wanted so badly or check out the "deals"they "might" need? That some would be willing and/or actually went "armed" to do battle over the item if needed...really?
Then I begin to picture Churches, Adoration Chapels and Confessionals, wondering why are we not willing to get up at the crack of dawn to go and have a personal experience with Our Lord at Mass through the Liturgy of the Word, the music, the prayers, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, or knocking down the doors of the Confessional to be freed of our sin, being reconciled with Our Creator, or going and spending at least one hour adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, spending at least one hour a day in intimate prayer with Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit or Mary. Can we imagine if we all got as excited about these things as we did on "Black Friday"? Our Churches, Adoration Chapels, Confessionals would be full all the time!
After this time of reflection, I told God I was sorry I fell into the Consumerism of Christmas...the very thing I detest so much, and I would never go to a "Black Friday" sale again, because in reality these sales WILL come again before Christmas! Do not get me wrong, getting items on sale is a good thing. I am just saying it is so sad that we sometimes allow the "worldly ways" to define how we live and act and what is important to us. Fighting, harming others, acting like if you do not get the "precious items" it will be the end of the world over "things" that will someday pass away??? Is it really worth it?
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Pray For Us that we may truly focus, get excited over and see the true meaning of Christmas, each and every day.
