The dotted line… – Sunday, January 23, 1955
Perhaps this comment could be called “the dotted line”—since signing on the dotted line has come to be a symbol of entering into obligations—a symbol sometimes of getting into things that are not easy to get out of. Many have discovered that it is much easier to get into things than it is to get out of them.
Many have ably written and spoken concerning this subject. Sometimes we seem to set our hearts on opening certain doors, on entering into certain situations, and knock and pry and push and almost insist on getting inside. Then we may find that being inside isn’t quite what we thought it was.
And often we find that the exits aren’t so easily accessible. This question of getting into what is hard to get out of applies to many matters: to borrowing, to signing notes, to contracts of many kinds, to joining things, to accepting things, to mortgages, to marriages.
It is so easy to sign, so easy to accept, so easy to say yes, so easy to make commitments—and so hard to fulfil, so hard to pay back, so long to regret, so long to repent—so easy to get into and so hard to get out of. Often, we pursue mirages. We follow fashions; we pursue pride; we stubbornly set ourselves, and make commitments, make shortsighted decisions. But before we do, we should see ourselves on the paying side as well as on the receiving side.
We should read the fine print, we should take a long look, consider consequences, and not commit ourselves to any course that would impair our peace, our solvency, our self-respect, our credit, our character, our conscience. It isn’t only the moment that matters.
It is the morning after, the month after, the year after, the long years ahead, the whole of life—and everlasting life. And a man must look beyond the moment, through all the days there are, to the day the debt is due. He must look beyond the limits of time, even into eternity, and keep himself as free as he can from questionable compromise, questionable company, shortsighted commitments.
Read the fine print; take a long look at life, consider all commitments carefully in the clear light of day, and proceed slowly before assenting, before signing.
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January 23, 1955
Broadcast Number 1,327