Blackish Friday

November 26, 2022

I used to wonder about the names Good Friday and Black Friday. Why name the day Jesus died on the cross “good”? Why label the day we joyously plunge into Christmas shopping as “black”? It seems it ought to be the other way around.

I have always enjoyed shopping on Black Friday. I love the bargains. I love being with the crowds, part of a ‘movement’, part of a special group. Twenty years ago, shopping on the day after Thanksgiving meant being at the door of a store at slightly before 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning, waiting in great anticipation with a crowd of twenty or thirty people. Stores would usually have special discounts for the first shoppers. We’d shiver together, laugh, share tips about where certain things were located in the store, and just get to know each other a little. The store would open and we’d joyfully file in, accepting any discount cards. Sometimes there would be free coffee and donuts.

Everyone knew what store was due to open next. We’d find our new friends from the last store waiting with us again, plus a few more ‘late risers.’ After the last store opened, it would not be unusual to see some of the same shoppers at whatever fast food chain I stopped at for breakfast. I often had half my Christmas gifts bought for my wife by 7 a.m. on Black Friday.

Black Friday is different now. Much of our shopping is done online. Holiday sales begin on November 1 or earlier. Stores don’t serve coffee and donuts!

On the Friday before Easter we celebrate Good Friday because Jesus died that our sins might be forgiven. That’s why it’s called ‘good.’ Black Friday got its name because merchants saw their profits suddenly jump far into the black ink as opposed to red. I miss the old style Black Friday because of the goodwill among strangers. How do we get it back? Start with Matthew 7:12, “In everything do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”