The “Abnormal Anabaptist” recently quoted his wise wife’s comments on the upcoming shopping frenzy:

Our culture has gotten to the point where we cannot take even one day to stop accumulating more and more things, and simply take the time to be grateful for what we already have.

And it’s true. I frequently lament the commercialization of Christmas, but I had never thought about what this aggressive shopping day means for our observance of Thanksgiving. This year the sales start on Thanksgiving day–so people will be out buying more stuff before they have finished giving thanks for the stuff they already have.

As the consumerism gets more aggressive, I feel the need to be a more aggressive anti-consumer on Black Friday. So instead of going shopping, I will go pohsing*–and I invite you to go with me!

Here is how pohsing works: Rather than rushing out to buy the latest gadgets and hottest fashions (O.K. Anyone who has seen me knows I don’t ever buy the hottest fashions . . . ) I will take some time to be grateful for what I already have. And I will give some money to help others who do not have some of the things I take for granted.

In the wee hours of Friday morning, I will post a brief reflection on something for which I am grateful. And I will post a link to the website of an organization that makes it possible for more people to be grateful for that thing. (For example, if I post about being grateful for a home, I might donate to and link to Habitat for Humanity; grateful for food, I might donate to Bread for the World; grateful for my family, I might donate to an organization the works with foster children. You get the idea.)

So please come back to this blog on Friday and join the pohsing party! Fellow bloggers can post on their own blog and link up here. (It will be my first attempt at doing a blog link-up, so wish me luck.) Non-bloggers, you are welcome to use the comments section to share your gratitude and link to one of your favorite organizations.

And for those of you who love shopping on Black Friday–be safe, have fun, and join us here once you are back home (or while you are waiting in one of those long lines). Shopping and Pohsing are not mutually exclusive. We’re all trying to find our balance during this hectic season.

Happy happy, merry merry everyone!

*I’m sure you figured out that “pohs” is “shop” spelled backwards. I like that it sounds like “pause”–which is what we need to do this time of year. And the backwards spelling is inspired by my high school friends who went morping with me on prom night. (In case you are interested, morping involves ratty flannel shirts, a greasy diner, and a bowling alley.)