Black Friday and the Kingdom of God

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This image came to me at 6:30 this morning, the day after Thanksgiving. Actually it's two images.

DOOR BUSTERS

The first image is of those thousands of people lined up in front of the closed doors of the stores that will open at 4:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. today. For weeks the merchants have been whetting the appetites of bargain-hungry shoppers with promises of the delights in store for the lucky few who are there when the doors open. The true believers started lining up last night, so devoted and single-minded in their purpose that nothing can discourage or distract them from their set goal -- to get first shot at the coveted consumer items, and maybe even get one of the free gift cards awarded to the first fifty shoppers to enter the store.


GATE BUSTERS




The second image comes from the liturgical readings of the past couple of weeks: the final breaking in of the Kingdom of God when the Son of Man comes riding on the clouds. The picture in my head was of throngs of Christians pushing up against the gates of heaven, true believers so devoted and single-minded in their purpose that nothing can discourage or distract them from their set goal -- the coveted rewards promised to those who enter the Kingdom, rewards prepared for them from all eternity. Why does this second image seem so improbable to me?

Well, there's no chance that I would ever find myself in a mob of impatient shoppers waiting in the middle of the night for some store to open its doors. (My abbot wouldn't give me permission anyway.) But experience shows that it's equally unlikely that I would be found in that other throng -- the focused, passionate, single-minded Christians who are willing to suffer all sorts of privations in order to enter the Kingdom.


A "BLACK FRIDAY" LESSON

The devoted midnight shoppers of Black Friday can serve as an inspiration to me and to most of us Christians who don't seem very willing to suffer the inconveniences entailed in getting on line in the middle of the night and waiting in joyful hope for the gates to open and welcome us in to the Kingdom.



.............Happy Black Friday!