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| Kym Lucas |
"Let mutual love
continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that
some have entertained angels without knowing it." -Hebrews 13:1-2
I will be one of the crazy people shopping on Black Friday.
For most of my adult life I managed to shun this cultural
insanity. I avoided all post-Thanksgiving retail. I prided myself on
thoughtful, “real meaning of Christmas” practices, not to mention a year round
hunt for perfect gifts. A while back, my return to full-time church leadership
and the arrival of my twins smashed both of those high-minded ideals, and my
sister J, sensing my despondency, talked me into my first Black Friday outing. Her
reasoning was compelling, “One night of hell and you won’t have to worry about
anything but Advent.”
So, that year I became a “tag-a-long” to my younger sister
as she orchestrated our Christmas shopping endeavors. She scouted inventory,
studied opening times, and plotted driving routes; she even scheduled coffee
and snack breaks. Yet for all of her tactical shopping skills (and they are
many), the best gift my sister gave me was the way she behaved. First, there
was her cheerful (and loud) “HELLO!” to everyone who made eye contact. She
seemed to go out of her way to greet people, inquire about their Thanksgiving,
and wish them a good night (or morning). She encouraged beleaguered sales
staff, helped harried dads find toys they’d never heard of, and suggested
alternatives to people devastated by a “sell-out.”
At first, I thought my sister was suffering from some sort of insanity. She is an introvert and usually tries not to be noticed. But this good natured engagement went on for hours, well past the point when I was ready to strangle the next person who bumped into me. Finally I asked, “What is wrong with you? Why are you being so nice?”
Her reasoning was, again, too powerful to ignore. “Most
people are here because they want to show someone they love how much they
appreciate them. And they have to do it on a budget or else they wouldn’t stand
in line and put up with all of this. And the people working are working because
they have to. I guess I see it as a good opportunity to practice being the
[Christian] person I claim to be.”
It is easy to be patient and kind and enduring, I was
rediscovering, when people are behaving themselves around you. It is much
harder to be bombarded by craziness and ugliness and maintain one’s composure. But
as Christians we are called to offer hospitality to all. Our Christian
hospitality should not be reserved for those who step across our thresholds. It
is about welcoming people wherever we happen to run across them, and in
whatever state they appear, because Jesus welcomes them. And when I think about
it, it really isn’t that hard to wait, to smile, or to say “thank-you.”
And so it is that five years on, I’m still following my
sister into the fray of Black Friday. I have yet to attain her degree of
patience and cheerfulness. But I’m working on it.
The Rev. Kym Lucas is the rector at St. Margaret's in Washington, DC.
