Bible Study November 29, 2024
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
I was thinking about the term “Black Friday” as I woke up this morning. I thought I would do a search for the origination of the term. Here is a portion of what I found:
“It is believed by many that the term Black Friday derives from the concept that businesses operate at a financial loss, or are “in the red,” until the day after Thanksgiving, when massive sales finally allow them to turn a profit, or put them “in the black.” However, this is untrue.
A more accurate explanation of the term dates back to the early 1960s, when police officers in Philadelphia began using the phrase “Black Friday” to describe the chaos that resulted when large numbers of suburban tourists came into the city to begin their holiday shopping and, in some years, attend Saturday’s annual Army-Navy football game. The huge crowds created a headache for the police, who worked longer shifts than usual as they dealt with traffic jams, accidents, shoplifting, and other issues.
Origin and history of the Black Friday sale following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Shopping, consumerism, sales, Christmas, gifts.
Within a few years, the term Black Friday had taken root in Philadelphia. City merchants attempted to put a prettier face on the day by calling it “Big Friday.”
We are not shopping disciples as some are who are fighting at Walmart to buy one of three televisions that is in stock at a cost of almost nothing.
If we were to go back further we would see this day had another meaning. “Historically, Black Friday has yet another connotation, one unrelated to shopping. In 1869 Wall Street financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempted to corner the nation’s gold market at the New York Gold Exchange by buying as much of the precious metal as they could, with the intent of sending prices skyrocketing. On Friday, September 24, intervention by President Ulysses S. Grant caused their plan to fall apart. The stock market instantly plummeted, sending thousands of Americans into bankruptcy.
Fear of bankruptcy, fear of losing it all, fears in general. As our scripture for today says we should “live in power, love, and self-control.”
God Bless.
Asbury Chapel 