With shoppers lining up for Black Friday earlier and earlier in recent years, the more appropriate name for retailers' biggest sales day might be Black Is The Color Of The Sky You Will Stand Outside Under In The Middle Of The Night.
But not everyone enjoys the earlier shopping opportunities. Frustrated by the annually receding start times, a Target employee recently launched a Change.org petition asking the company to move up its Thursday-at-midnight opening so that employees could enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday. Those who work at Best Buy launched a similar campaign, and one New Jersey resident inaugurated a Respect the Bird drive, in which individuals can sign a pledge "to not let Black Friday shopping gobble up my Thanksgiving."
Yet I can't help but wonder whether Respect the Bird might be more appropriately titled Respect the Sabbath.
Let me explain.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, travelers frantically comb stores for travel-sized liquids and pint-plastic bags. They haggle their way through airport security, clutch their seats and beg for their lives when turbulence strikes, feel their blood pressure rise when they get stuck in traffic, and get heartburn from too many fast food meals on the road. Hosts and hostesses stock their kitchens with the makings of green bean casserole, marshmallowed sweet potatoes, stuffing and the prized turkey. They set their alarm clocks to put the bird in the oven; they make schedules to accommodate the heating of side dishes; they rally their children to decorate the house or to not destroy decorations already hung; they vacuum, dust, organize the playroom, wipe the sweat off their brow and somehow fit in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. After the last guest leaves, they scrape dishes, Swiffer the floor, perform complicated mathematical equations on the refrigerator that enable them to fit in all the leftovers, and collapse in bed for an hour only to rise again and to begin shopping for the next celebration.
Holidays make us tired, and that's why Sabbath is so important.
In the Christian and Jewish traditions, the Sabbath originated at creation. The first chapter of Genesis states that, over a seven-day period, God formed the heavens and earth out of a formless void. Day one brought light. On day two, God separated water and sky. Day three yielded dry land and plants. During day four, God fashioned stars, sun and moon. On day five, animals came into being, and on day six, humankind. Pleased with these accomplishments, God called them good. And then, on day seven, God took the first Sabbath rest, time away from work when rejuvenation could occur. That concept of the Sabbath -- or, in Hebrew, Shabbat -- became so central to living a healthy life that God codified it in the Ten Commandments with the words:
Since the time those biblical words were penned, the Sabbath has become a cornerstone of Judaism and Christianity. Observed on Saturday in the former tradition and Sunday in the latter, the Sabbath has traditionally been a day of rest and worship, and continues to be held as such by many. In Israel, for instance, most stores close on the Sabbath, including drugstores and supermarkets. Likewise, 50 years ago in the United States, businesses were not open on Sunday out of respect for the Sabbath.
Yet, as the culture in America has become increasingly consumerist, a new worldview has overtaken the one that honors the Sabbath. In that worldview, rest is anachronistic. Sunday is business as usual: Tellers open banks, businessmen strike deals by email, students labor over homework. We are too busy to rest, we say; we don't have time to rejuvenate after setting the table, carving the turkey and cleaning when the last guest leaves.
What all this filters down to is that the increasing intensity of Black Friday -- or rather, Black Midnight Thursday -- is merely the latest manifestation of the way in which our culture dilutes the Sabbath and the need for rest in the name of increasing productivity and quenching consumerist thirst. Even though Black Friday is not on a Saturday or Sunday, it follows a period of heightened work and stress; it's a natural time for rest, and yet, it's a time in which rest is not encouraged.
One at a time, we can change this culture. As God's children, it is our responsibility to find that rest for ourselves because without it, regardless of religious affiliation, we will psychologically dry up like turkey left too long in the oven.
We are all called to do our best work this holiday season. But after you fit the last Tupperware of stuffing into that over-packed refrigerator, take a look at what you accomplished, call it good, then lie on the couch and greet your Sabbath.
Follow Danielle Tumminio on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RevDaniBeth
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The Scriptures plainly state that Christ’s sacrifice “abolished . . . the Law of commandments consisting in decrees” and that God “blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees . . . and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake.” It was the complete Mosaic Law that was “abolished,” “blotted out,” taken “out of the way.” (Eph 2:13-15; Col 2:13, 14) Consequently, the whole system of Sabbaths, be they days or years, was brought to its end with the rest of the Law by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. This explains why Christians can esteem “one day as all others,” whether it be a sabbath or any other day, with no fear of judgment by another. (Ro 14:4-6; Col 2:16) Paul made the following expression concerning those scrupulously observing “days and months and seasons and years”: “I fear for you, that somehow I have toiled to no purpose respecting you.”—Ga 4:10, 11.
Please, look for the work of Dr. Sammuele Bachiochi for a scholar work about this issue. Thank You.
When Constantine legalized Christianity he encouraged the Bishops to choose Sunday as the regular day of prayer because it was already the day sacred to the pagans of the various Sun God cults. Other Christian observances and holidays were also created by combining Christian and pagan cults.
Corporations and citizens alike have combined to turn the end of this once quiet day of giving thanks (or at least being grateful, for those who don't accord God credit for all they have) into one of joining frenzied masses in getting more things to be thankful for.
More, more, more. What will ever be enough for us? At what price? Are there no lengths that many of us will not go to in order to be first in the store? Being up all night? Cold midnight waits in line? Fights at the registers, pepper spray in the electronics department, gunshots at the mall entrance, storming over and trampling employees opening the doors? What a joyful way to celebrate our blessings.
Will there be any religious or cultural event that is not turned into crass commercialism?
loved the Black Friday equation "Black is the color of the sky you will stand outside under in the middle of the night", a commoners Einstein's formula for sure
when we enter the time of our down cycle or depression, the prophets called it a Day of Darkness and Gloom with Black Clouds over our heads as a covering over our eyes whereby we can't see or think clearly
the "Rest" that the bible intends is "spiritual" as in Hebrews chapter 3 & 4, that when our Day comes, that we no longer are concerned about "blue law" rules because our hearts are changed by the holy Spirit and we "rest" from works or rules to find favor by God
the book of Jonah chapter 3 mentions that the governmental 'rest" holiday was one of "fasting and prayers, in sackcloth and ashes" because we individually and as a community, have at some point in time done wrong, and to reflect, have remorse and repent so that in the future not make the same mistake
Thanksgiving Day unfortunately has become one not of fasting but feasting as in "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord, they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry (football was not invented yet)...Exodus 32:5,6
I really like and agree with your definition of what Biblical rest is really all about. Reminds me of Christ's words, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
It assumes that the problem with consumerism is that it is gobbling up our sabbaths. Thus the solution is to restore our sabbaths. There's nothing wrong with Black Friday until it starts interfering with Thanksgiving.
I must disagree. The whole idea of consumerism is at it's root a dysfunctional approach to humanity. It totally distorts how humans should relate to each other, to the necessities and desires of life and the rest of nature.
The next step beyond Occupy Wall Street is to Occupy Madison Avenue.
I am NOT a shopper; I am a human being.
I don't know about you, but I'm the child of two people from Wales. No divine being was involved.
There is no evidence your god exists. The "Sabbath" is a wholly man-made idea. That said, the notion of taking a day off regularly is a good one.
And if that wasn't clear enough, we can go back to Exodus 23:12, where we are told the exact purpose of the Sabbath: "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed."
God is telling us to take a day off to rest and relax. He's also telling us to give the people and even the animals that work for us a day off.
Some of my fellow Christians will probably disagree, but I really don't think that God is going to get angry if you end up taking off Tuesday instead of either Saturday or Sunday. The point is that we humans are happier and healthier if we take a day off occasionally.
Oh, and if you work so hard on your Sabbath that you're tired out at the end of it, you've probably missed the whole point.
(Deut 30:12), "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it."
Torah laws were made for Man, not man for the laws. Sabbath observance is in the top ten of those laws.
There are no gods - this was all made up. And as far as being the "Cornerstone" - the Sabbath has become a joke. People waste their time and money supporting an organization that in many cases spreads hate and lies. They use the money to buy elections. People use church as a networking site, though it does have some social support value. They seem to use it as an opportunity to show off their wealth and brood buy showing up in the biggest SUV.
Sorry - not impressed.