Black Friday

My Thanksgiving was perfect. I realized that this morning after carefully reviewing the Black Friday ads and concluding there was no deal great enough for me to go out there and face the teeming mob. I am truly blessed.

 It really was a great Thanksgiving. My immediate family were all present. We thanked God for each other. Ate too much great food. Laughed and hugged. 

We kicked off our Christmas season by pulling names and deciding we would play dirty Santa this year with each of us tasked to purchase a “as seen on TV” gag gift as well. 

 There was an appropriate amount of emotion as Kaydence left to meet her dad and spend time with him. If the truth be known, there were tear drops in my corn bread dressing. 

 It was a bit disturbing to see how many spent this day for thanks waiting in line for Black Friday sales. I realize that the day after Thanksgiving has been the traditional kick off for Christmas shopping. It always seemed too early for me. I like shopping on Christmas Eve. 

But the demons of commercialism have gone too far. Thanksgiving Day is under assault. Now stores are opening at midnight. There were even some Thanksgiving Day Black Friday eve sales. Is nothing holy? I predict next year the first day of holiday shopping will be Thanksgiving Day. 

 It’s another example of materialism creep. Forces are attacking every piece of the spiritual in our lives. Kick Jesus out of Christmas. Drum prayer out of schools. Turn Thanksgiving into Black Thursday. We’ve been talking about spiritual warfare for a few weeks. Isn’t this where the rubber meets the road? Isn’t the enemy determined to turn our eyes from heaven to earth? Doesn’t the war involve decisions over what’s really important, the material or the spiritual? 

 Every year I insist I will make Christ the center of our Christmas. Every year I feel I fail. This year the failure came earlier than ever. I am truly blessed but if I don’t become a better warrior how long will that be true?

 It really is Black Friday, isn’t it? 

 Nick