Good question: Why is black Friday black and Good Friday good

(originally posted on this day in 2013, but still relevant)

The question from the back seat was a good one: “Why is Friday called black?” and then the follow up, “and also, why is Black Friday black and Good Friday good?” I flipped through my mental rolodex to see if the question had been covered in Alex McFarland’s “The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity.” Apparently this will not be one of the toughest questions my step children will ask, but it was the toughest one I faced this week. I sent up a prayer, took a deep breath and said something like: “It comes down to black and red.” Remember, I was a finance major in college. I think in terms of ink and I know that black Friday is the day that retailers get to move on their balance sheets from the red into the black. After some discussion, the connection was complete and I had the benefit of being on the receiving end of the spiritual insight of the 10 year old in the backseat. She said, “Oh, so the red of Good Friday is the blood of Jesus. And if on black Friday stores move from the red to the black, on Good Friday Jesus’ blood moves us from the black list of sin to the red list of those covered in His blood.” I sent up an ardent prayer of Thanksgiving for the Lord’s powerful presence to reveal truth and plant it in human hearts – even in the backseat of my car. Then came the punch line that caught me off guard. “Miss Carmen, why do people get up early and stand in line for Black Friday but no one pays much attention to Good Friday?” Good question, child, good question.