Black Friday finally arrived. A small man pushed his way to the front of the line, only to be pushed back, amid loud and colorful curses. On the man's second attempt, he was punched square in the jaw, and knocked around a bit, and then thrown to the end of the line again. As he got up he said to the person at the end of the line..."That does it! If they hit me one more time, I won't open the store!"

Hello again and welcome. It is Wednesday, November 28, 2012. Thanks for dropping by. When the cooler air blows it speaks to me. I can't make out all of the words but it does mention Community Coffee quite often. That little outage on Monday really let us know how dependent we have become on the internet for the conduct of our business. No email contact from customers which is how we actually transact much of our ordering and correspondence. After spending what seemed like forever getting through the automated contact system at the phone company, I finally got into line to get hold of a real person and actually spoke to one after being on hold for about ten minutes. She was one of those that I call a gusher. She was so sorry we were having this problem. She was very sorry that our modem wasn't modeming that morning. She was very happy to help me but she couldn't be sure how long it would take, and she did want me to keep in mind that this type of failure was not a covered expense provided as part of our monthly bill. It took 20 minutes but that last part was all I really wanted to know. Throughout the holding process I am always impressed with how many times the recorded messaging system informs you to log in to their system if you desire quicker service. I wouldn't be calling them if I could log into their system. In fact, I wouldn't wish calling them on anyone. And, I happen to know that you know exactly what I mean.

I didn't get out for the Black Friday sales stuff. I did, however, make a trip to the mall to meet my wife and deliver her cell phone she had left at home. It was still very early and while the natives were busy, they were not yet all crazy like they begin to go after around 11 a.m. She met me at the curb and I handed her the phone through the window. That ended my contact with Black Friday. The Drudge Report kept a running list of headlines from the shootings, shovings, riots, and other crazy stuff going on across the country. I know times are hard but is any on sale item worth shooting someone? I don't know exactly what all of these incidents say about who we are as a people, but, I can tell you that it does not speak well, and, sadly, like road rage, each year this craziness seems to become worse. Many years ago when they began to call it Black Friday, I had to get hold of why they named it that. It, of course, has to do with being 'in the black' in terms of profitability for all the merchants but based on these news accounts it could easily be called a dark day for many other reasons as well. My wife and her sister made a full day of it. They thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually heard a lady on a radio call in program talking about their Thanksgiving traditions. She said after the big meal everyone would settle down and the ladies then all get together to review the Black Friday sale papers. Okay. I give up. Thanksgiving tradition? That one wins the award.

The Black Friday that should concern us all is the report that our Federal Government borrowed just under 25 billion dollars to keep it going, the day after Thanksgiving. I don't want to be a naysayer, but based on our system, this approach to running our government is what the majority voted for, therefore, we continue this madness that is undermining and weakening us as a nation, with every breath we take. That's why we need to seek God's intervention and to do our best, with His help, to live responsibly and to model a message that shows how hope can be found in God's answers to all questions that pertain to life. It is a truism in life that hard times, adversity, and trials can play a productive role in our development and growth. We can become perplexed but our faith seeks to inform our attitude and our actions. Times are tough. The Apostle Paul gave great insight to a struggling group of folks meeting together as a local fellowship in Philippi, Greece. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4: 6-9) May God help us to follow this prescription for life. Amen.    ....More later.