Dueling ‘holidays’

Published 8:27 pm Friday, November 21, 2014

By Andrew Book

As I was reading the news last week, a headline grabbed my attention. Simply judging by the article’s title, it appeared that Montgomery County in Maryland would no longer be closing school for Christmas due to the request of Muslim families that Eid al-Adha — a major Muslim holiday — also be recognized on the school calendar. As I read the article, I realized that the title was deceptive, and probably intentionally inflammatory as well. No, Montgomery County was not changing the days the school system would be closed next year, they were simply removing the names of the religious holidays from the school calendar. The school board determines holidays based on the days that have a high level of absentees, so Christmas was saved, not that it was ever really threatened in the first place. You can find more here: http://wapo.st/1GMUE0g.

While Christmas may not be in danger, I do believe that the holidays that are dueling for priority in the coming week have put Thanksgiving at risk! This coming Thursday marks Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is a day focused on enjoying the bounty that we have been given, gathering with friends and family to give thanks for all we have, and slowing down to recognize that we have enough. The next day, “Black Friday,” has become a holiday in its own right. “Black Friday” is as close to the opposite of Thanksgiving as I can conceive. Black Friday is a day devoted to pursuing those things that we do not have. It is a day devoted to want and desire, pursuing and gaining the things that we covet. There is no celebration of that which we have received, instead we are focused on replacing what we have with something that is newer, faster, brighter or shinier. Black Friday is in many ways the anti-Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the last Thursday in November. At first, this date allowed Thanksgiving to be celebrated over four days, with four days set aside for enjoying and giving thanks for what we have. However, the growth of Black Friday, accompanied by a national lust for more in place of a national celebration of having enough, cut Thanksgiving from four days to one. The next change was the early morning Black Friday openings, which led people to spending half of Thanksgiving Day strategizing how to get “more” and then heading to bed early to prepare to fight others — sometimes literally! — for the best deals.

Every year, Black Friday has bit into Thanksgiving further and further. This year, many of the major retailers will be open on Thanksgiving Day. We will not be celebrating Thanksgiving with any of my wife’s family this year because they all have to work and I expect that for many families, Thanksgiving will simply be a large meal that paves the way for our pursuit of more. It is extremely hard to be thankful when your eyes are fixed on the next best thing that you simply must have (for yourself, your kids, grandkids or whoever).

In many ways, the duel between Thanksgiving and Black Friday is a duel for our souls. Are we going to be people who are marked by a desire to always have more or will we be marked by thankfulness for what we have?

Shopping and thankfulness are not fundamentally opposed to each other, but the level of coveting encouraged by advertisers today goes well beyond shopping for things we need and enjoy to creating a culture where no one thinks they have enough.

As a child, I was always confused about how “thou shall not covet” ended up in the Ten Commandments alongside more obvious commandments like the call to not murder, steal and lie (see Exodus 20 in the Bible). However, the more I have seen what coveting does to us, the more I recognized why coveting is such a problem. Coveting is more than simply seeing something that we want. Coveting is a way of living where we cannot focus on the blessings we have because we are always looking at the next thing we want. For someone who is caught up in the cycle of coveting, there is never enough.

The best way to combat the cycle of coveting is through Thanksgiving. By looking at what we have and saying “thank you,” we recognize what we have is good. It is enough. I hope and pray you will make sure that Thanksgiving this year is a time to celebrate the good things in your life. Don’t simply use it to launch yourself into another season of coveting. Live as a thankful person and it will change you!

The Sunday at Courtland United Methodist Church, we are going to be exploring how we are transformed by thankfulness. We would love to have you join us in worship at 11 a.m. on Sunday if you are looking for a community to give thanks for. Wherever you are this week, do what you can to set aside the itch for more and be thankful that you have enough.

ANDREW BOOK is the pastor of Courtland United Methodist Church. He can be contacted at 653-2240 or andrew@courtlandumcva.org.