Yesterday was ‘Thanksgiving’ in the US, a reminder that during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens” and now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It’s a reminder to me that being thankful is a sure sign of God at work in our lives and God’s will for each one of us (1 Thess 5:17 TNIV). We have so much to give thanks for: God’s love endures forever; He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing; He protects us and guides us each day!
More intriguingly, the day after Thanksgiving (today) is known as ‘Black Friday’ in the US. Apparently, historically this day happened on September 24, 1869 and was caused by two speculators’ efforts, Jay Gould and James Fisk, to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. It was one of several scandals that rocked the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Nowadays, Black Friday is often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In recent years, most major retailers have opened extremely early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in the UK. As one who doesn’t particularly like sales shopping, I can see why this might be called a ‘black’ day (!), but it does seem odd to me that this is so named immediately after a day given over to thanksgiving!
Let’s give thanks every day and rejoice in God’s goodness!