BLACK FRIDAY

I hate the name and I may hate the concept as well. I try not be disdainful  as friends spell out their strategy to buy the most, the cheapest, in the fastest way possible to cover lots of ground. It carries such a frantic naked sweaty greed. And it taints Thanksgiving for me. If it were just more old fashioned festive. And slower.  If only it were Bing Crosby-esque.

I am a present giver. I love to give spontaneously and often and give the 'just right' thing. I don't even mind when it is obligatory like Birthdays and Christmas. But this year I want the quiet peace of Silent Night rather than the Holly Jolly-ness.  Presents seem almost grotesque as the world struggles with poverty and hatred and profound unrest.  

One of the stories in history that I find so poignant is of soldiers/enemies on Christmas Eve singing Christmas Carols together during a cease fire (whether formal or not) knowing that the next day they would go back to trying to kill one another. Soldiers described it as a holy moment of common human connection.
How do we create and extend that kind of moment?  How do we get our energy there? 

Yes to the start of the many holy celebrations of the season. Yes to lots of giving.Yes to joy. Yes to the wonder of children being surprised with gifts.
Yes to lights and hope to make it through the darkness. Black Friday to me seems like a kick-off in the wrong direction. Wrong goal post