Hymn for Black Friday
(the day after Thanksgiving, the first day of Christmas shopping)
to the tune Mendelssohn (“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”)
(1) Early on a Friday morn,
anxious drivers blow their horns.
Swiftly to the mall they race,
praying for a parking place.
Humming carols of the season,
spending with no rhyme or reason.
Checking, savings overdrawn,
all before the light of dawn.
Save a dollar! Save a dime!
Happy, happy shopping-time!
(2) Bargain hunters stalk their prey
all across the U.S.A.
Checkout lines around the block,
just like back at Plymouth Rock.
Stuffed with turkey, pie, and gravy,
they maneuver like a navy,
stacking high their shopping carts,
maxing out their credit cards.
Save a fortune! Save yourselves!
Stuff is flying off the shelves.
(3) Prophets have foretold the day
all of this will pass away:
parking places gone to seed,
escalators clogged with weeds;
Nordstroms, Saks, and Nieman Marcus
empty as a turkey carcass;
heaven’s children at the feast
where the greatest serve the least.
Savior, save a place for me,
where the best of gifts are free.
David Gambrell, 2007
David Gambrell is associate for worship in the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a candidate for the Ph.D. in liturgical studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Check out the new Theology and Worship blog: http://presbyterian.typepad.com/faith/