Whether you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, pagan, or follower of another faith or wisdom tradition, I ask you to please bear with me for a few minutes and listen to what I have to say.
Thanksgiving in America is a day in which we feast and express gratitude (in theory) for what we have. It has become the start of the Christmas season, something that affects us whether we believe Jesus was the messiah, a prophet, a teacher, an historical figure, or a fictional character. We all become immersed in the secular traditions of Christmas, surrounded by decorations, seasonal music, rich food, and gift-giving.
The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday. It’s a day of shopping, when we begin to buy those gifts, those decorations, those things needed to engage in the holiday celebration. I’m not going to moralize about consumerism and greed. I’m not going to get into what you should and shouldn’t do. I want to make one small point, and then ask you to voluntarily join me in doing something a little bit different, which I feel will help you better appreciate the season regardless of how you choose to celebrate it.
Christmas starts with Christ. Again, regardless of what you believe about Jesus, the origin of the season lies in the celebration of Christ’s birth. I want to draw your attention to something attributed to Christ, which is in stark contrast to how his birth seems to be celebrated:
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. – Luke 12:33
Now, I’m not asking you to give away your possessions and eschew materialism. I’m not even going to ask you to make a donation to charity. I’m asking you all to do one simple thing with me. Something that seems to be more in line with what I think Jesus — the man, the messiah, the fictional character, according to your own faith and traditions — would want.
Fast on Black Friday.
If your faith or wisdom tradition includes a process for fasting, follow the tenets of that tradition for the day. You already know the reasons for, and value of, fasting, so I shouldn’t have to go into them here. If you don’t, consult with a leader of your faith or wisdom tradition and discuss it.
If you have never fasted before, simply skip lunch. Eat a nutritious breakfast, sip water the rest of the day, and don’t eat again until dinner. Experience what it feels like to be hungry, to go without, for a short period of time. Make one small personal sacrifice, do without for a few hours.
After you’ve fasted, I ask you to pray, meditate, or have a discussion with family or friends — again, following the tenets of your own faiths and traditions — about what it means to go without, the pros and cons.
I don’t expect this to suddenly bring about world peace, for people to spontaneously achieve enlightenment, to elevate the collective social conscience, or anything large-scale or even lasting. I’m hoping that, maybe, for a while, each person will have their own little epiphany about gratitude. That, if nothing else, when you break the fast and eat that next meal, whatever it may be, it tastes a little better, and you appreciate it a little more. If the experience, and the prayer, meditation, and/or discussion, drives you to drop a buck in a kettle, write a check to a charity, or donate some canned goods to a food bank, that’s great.
All I really want, though, is for you to have this experience, and explore where it leads you. That’s it.
Thank you.
Empty plate image provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/karithina/4063027269/
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