The Dotted Line…

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. Sometimes we seem to set our hearts on opening certain doors, on entering into certain situations, and we 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 fulfill, 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 cling to pride we stubbornly set ourselves, and make commitments and 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.

We must look beyond the moment, through all the days there are, to the day the debt is due. We must look beyond the limits of time, even into eternity, and keep ourselves as free as we can from questionable compromise, questionable company, questionable commitments. We should read the fine print; take a long look at life (and not trust the moonlight too much), and consider all commitments carefully in the clear light of day, and proceed slowly before assenting, before signing.