Christmas Synergy

The 2008 Christmas shopping season has officially begun with the passing of the day retailers have traditionally donned “Black Friday”.

For the past several years, Bob & I have gotten up at 4 A.M. and made our pilgrimage out to Wal-Mart, Target and other stores to try and snag some bargains with the bazillion or so others out there who have the same idea.

This year we stood in front of a west Little Rock Wal-Mart in the cold, dark wee hours of the morning, waiting on someone to open the doors and let us in to shop. I would estimate there were about 500 others out there with us. And things tend to happen when that many people gather together for a single purpose.

What is it that happens? It’s hard to explain. It’s just an enigmatic, powerful collective emotional drive that can unify a group of people who previously had no contact with each other. I believe it’s what motivational speakers would call synergy – a made-up word if ever I heard one!

Nevertheless, this so-called synergy is what brings us to the mountaintop when we gather together in worship to sing an uplifting praise song. It’s why those of us in the service may feel like “family”even though we may never have actually met each other before. We stand as one. It’s quite a powerful experience. This is synergy at its best.

Unfortunately, synergy is also what drew together those who gathered at the mock trial of Jesus and called for the release of the criminal Barrabas and the crucifixion of Jesus. This was also a group drawn together for one purpose.

So it seems that synergy can be used for bad as well as good.

Here’s another example of the bad. Friday morning, on Long Island, New York, a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death by a throng of rabid shoppers trying to get in the door when the store opened. In addition to this fatality, at least four others, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

The news reported that many stepped over this young man’s broken and dying body to be the first to get to the flat screen TV’s, Blu Ray players, GPS navigation systems, and $2 movies Wal-Mart had featured in their Black Friday ad. When asked to leave the store or just back up so employees could get through and render aid, some of these shoppers were heard to say that they had been in line since the day before and we’re going in to shop. What a callous disregard for human life!

This young man who died wasn’t even employed by Wal-Mart. He actually worked for a temporary agency that had sent him out as an extra. He was just a young guy trying to earn a living. I doubt that when he got up Friday morning, he thought: “Today, I’m going to give my life for a sale on flat screen TV’s.” Furthermore, I’m sure he was someone’s son, someone’s friend -- perhaps even someone’s father – all people who are going to miss him terribly, and are shaking their heads in confusion today wondering why this truly senseless thing had to happen.

Wal-Mart may find itself in the middle of a lawsuit over the incident (not their first foray into that arena), and perhaps they are somewhat to blame, but Wal-Mart can’t be held responsible for collective bad human behavior. That calls for an account to a higher authority.

Meanwhile, on the same day, in another town (Palm Desert, California) and another store (this time a Toys ‘R Us) two men shot each other to death after the women accompanying them got into an argument, at least this is what happened according to witnesses. In a subsequent press statement, the toy retailer was quick to point out that the deaths were not related to shopping, but rather to a personal dispute. That’s cold comfort to those who will spend the holiday season marking the death of loved ones.

In regards to these incidents, a friend told me that she was ‘pretty sure this was not what Jesus had in mind for the celebration of His birthday.’ Amen, sister! How have we gone so far afield?

True -- these are financially dismal, even desperate times. Many are wondering if they will be able to afford to buy Christmas presents for their children and other loved ones. Desperation plays out in some ugly ways. Many businesses are folding under the weight of the economy; crime is on the rise, and so, apparently, “Merry Christmas” is turning into “Scary Christmas” for some folks.

The problem is (IMHO) that we as a society in general are trying to maintain a certain standard of living we have become accustomed to. We are doing this in the face of higher prices and in many cases, less money. Unlike our grandparents, many of whom knew what “hard times” were via the Great Depression, we don’t know how to tighten our belts. We have become so accustomed to getting what we want and passing it on to our children that we don’t know how to cut back. We see ‘hard times’ as forgoing a meal out at a restaurant or putting off getting that new car we wanted, instead of wondering where our next meal is coming from.

On this same note, here’s another example of bad (if not strange) Christmas synergy:

Today, I read about a group of parents who have started a letter writing campaign to toy manufacturers asking them to “lighten up” on their enticing, yet diabolical, Christmas advertising. This is so that their children will not be drawn into wanting their toys so badly. It makes it easier on the parents who just can’t bare to tell “Little Johnny” or “Little Mary” that they can’t afford the Ultra Turboman action figure or the Barbie Dream House with the real working elevator. Yeah, right! Like that’s gonna happen! In my opinion, this stunt is taking “whackadoo” to a whole new level.

We have a line for dealing with this type of problem at our house. It goes something like this: “Kids, things are a little tight this year so you may not get everything you ask for. That doesn’t mean you won’t get some things you want, just not everything.” We’ve found that it’s worked every time we’ve tried it. Simply put, it’s the truth spoken in love, and love is not spelled: S-T-U-F-F.


This holiday craziness, my own struggle with self-centeredness and the quest for the ultimate holiday “feel good”, have caused me to pause and reflect on what I am really focused on this Christmas? What is this world focused on? The answer should be – not a ‘what’ – but a ‘Who’. (And I’m not talking about those strange, pointy-headed people in the Dr. Seuss holiday tale.) The ‘Who’ in question is Jesus Christ. I should be focused on Christ. The world should be focused on Christ. But the tragically, in it’s search for happiness, the world “knows Him not”. Unfortunately, I act like I “know Him not” as well sometimes.

This morning when I had my quiet time with God, I prayed that God would help me look past the commercialism of Christmas and see the true meaning of Christmas – the Christmas that seeks to give and not to get. I have prayed this prayer every year and in the past years I’ve had glimpses of “true Christmas” in the midst of the material madness. This year, I want to be captivated and filled with it to the point of overflowing and oozing onto everyone around me. In this, I believe Jesus would be pleased.

So with this in mind -- will I go out on “Black Friday” next year? Probably. But while waiting for the store to open, instead of getting sucked into the collective frenzy of shopping synergy, I might just contemplate holding the door open for another weary early morning shopper. Or when I see the fabulous deals on flat panel TV’s and Blu Ray players, I might just walk on by whistling “O, Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

Merry Christ-mas!