vitalwholeness

Finally, the collective ritual of gluttony is over. No, I’m not referring to Thanksgiving. I mean the day after.

We have institutionalized acquisitiveness to the point of declaring a national holiday for buying things. Black Friday has become a red letter day on the cultural holiday. If you are a patriotic citizen it is your bounden duty to get out there and spend what you don’t have in order to save money. Don’t you care about the economy? I mean, really, my patriot friend, get out there and run up your charge card!

We all know that the retail business depends on recurring seasons of spending. Each “holiday” is a revenue opportunity. Adding and institutionalizing new ones keeps the cash register humming. None of this, however, addresses the question of sustainability – either individually or collectively. The way to happiness is not through avarice or gluttony. The incessant advertising barrages would have us believe otherwise.

One of the answers is to observe a protest, an Un Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is precisely the day to not gorge ourselves with things. It is the perfect day to be quiet, read, take walks, chat with friends and otherwise receive the gift of the day.

To focus us for the revolution, here are words taken from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Lord, help me now to unclutter my life, to organize myself in the direction of simplicity.

Teach me to listen to my heart.
Teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it.
I give you these stirrings inside me:
my discontent, restlessness, doubt, and despair.

I give you all the longings I hold inside.
Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth.
Help me to listen seriously and follow where they lead through the breathtaking empty space of an open door.

Here’s to uncluttered space, to the breathtaking empty space on Un Black Friday.