about to tell you
it is not a good idea
for many people

It’s really not.

So says, Susan Tompor of the Detroit Free Press in her article, “Record number of buyers opt for $1,000+ car payment.“

And what is it that Ms. Tompor thinks is NOT a good idea?

$1,000 a month or more on a car payment!

Ms. Tompor writes:

“Once you’ve earned it, many might imagine, you should be able to spend it any way you want. You want to spend $1,000 a month or more on a car payment, who has any right to tell you that’s a really bad idea?

Spoiler alert: I’m about to tell you, it’s not a good idea for many people. It’s really not.

Boy, Howdy!

She writes, “April is National Financial Literacy Month and it’s a good a time to consider how you split up your paycheck to cover housing, transportation and other needs and, yes, wants. Spending too much on one thing can vastly cut into what you’re able to use toward something else.“

April is National Financial Literacy Month!

Boy oh Boy Howdy!

Who knew?

Who cared?

All I know is that when I die, paperwork is in place to make sure all my heirs get an equal share of my credit card debt.

I am still paying for the Spanish American War with my taxes and I am not sure it has hurt me or bothered me that much.

Remember the Maine!

I mean if folks need to be told that a $1,000 monthly car payment is NOT A GOOD IDEA … well, we might as well elect a reality game show host as President and see how that works out for everybody.

OH WAIT.

I am not saying that reality game show hosts don’t have a right to be President.

This is, or was at any rate, America, where ANYBODY could end up being President.

It’s just that when we get anybody things don’t work out so well.

There is a story of a man who told President Lincoln he had to get rid of his Generals.

“Who should I replace them with,” Mr. Lincoln asked the man.

And when the man replied, ANYBODY, Mr. Lincoln said, “Anybody might work for you, but I must have Somebody!”

let us love, deare Love,
as we ought — is the lesson
which the Lord us taught

Amoretti is a sonnet cycle written by Edmund Spenser in the 16th century.

Sonnet 68 corresponds to Easter Sunday.

Most glorious Lord of Lyfe! that, on this day,
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin;
And, having harrowd hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive, us to win:
This joyous day, deare Lord, with joy begin;
And grant that we, for whom thou diddest dye,
Being with Thy deare blood clene washt from sin,
May live for ever in felicity!

And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same againe;
And for Thy sake, that all lyke deare didst buy,
With love may one another entertayne!
So let us love, deare Love, lyke as we ought,
— Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.

Christ lived, died and rose again for everyone on this past, present and future world.

And grant that we, for whom thou diddest dye.

So let us love, deare Love, lyke as we ought,

— Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.

Small price to pay for such services rendered.

it is possible
that he had many books but
he never read them

Dr. Martin Luther King gave a sermon titled, The Man Who Was a Fool, at the Detroit Council of Churches’ Noon Lenten Services on March 6, 1961.

The sermon was based on the passage found in Luke 12 that describes a rich man whose farm produced more food than his barns could hold and his solution was to build bigger barns.

In the passage, it states that, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.“

Dr. King further developed the character of the rich man saying:

You see this man was foolish because the richer he became materially, the poorer he became spiritually and intellectually.

He may have been married, but he didn’t really love his wife.

He may have given her all of the material necessities of life, but he deprived her of that something which she needed more than anything else, namely love and affection.

He may have had children, but he didn’t really appreciate them.

It’s possible that he had many volumes of books stored around his mansion, but he never read them.

He may have had access to great music, but he never listened to it.

And so his eyes were closed to the majestic grandeur of the stars.

And somehow his ears were closed to the melodious sweetness of great music.

His mind was closed to the insights of the poets and prophets and philosophers.

And therefore his title was justly merited.

He was a fool because he failed to keep a line of distinction between the “within” and the “without” of life.

It was the 55th anniversary of the Dr. King’s death yesterday.

In his memory and to honor him and to honor God, I say, love your wife.

Appreciate your children.

Read your books.

Listen to your music.

Look up and at the stars.

Open your mind.

Don’t be the fool.

for the modern world
stakes raised to infinity
win or lose it all

For the modern world is one in which all stakes are raised to infinity; win it all or lose it all, in this or the next generation.

Man’s problem is that he has at last become master of his own fate, and he may not have had the proper training; which is to say that he has arranged things so that he has no one but himself to rely upon.

Instead of looking beyond the skies, he is obliged to look into his own heart.

If he looks earnestly enough, he may find there the thing he needs most of all — the secret of the art of associating together.

From Michigan : a History by Bruce Catton, (1899-1978) New York : Norton, 1984