Luke 6:31-36

Luke 6:31-36

Quote:

As you want other people to deal with you, you must also deal with them in the same manner: for, if you love those who love you, what grace do you receive in return: for, even sinners love those who love them.  If you only do good to those who do good to you, what grace do you receive in return: for, even sinners do this same thing.  If you only lend to those of whom you expect repayment, what grace do you receive in return: for, even sinners lend to sinners, hoping for repayment of the debt.

But you must love your enemies, do good, lend, hoping for no repayment[1]; then your reward shall be great, you shall also be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

You must therefore be merciful, just as your Father is merciful as well.

Unquote.

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Today’s lesson from Luke sounds a great deal like Matthew.  Matthew prefers the word forgive; yet, that which must be forgiven is clearly debt.[2]  Trespasses is not the right idea either; rather side-falls: and which of us has not fallen aside into one ditch or the other?  Of course, debts can be more than money: but we must not forgive all else, while holding our brothers and sisters in slavery to money, as is the common modern practice.

We live in a society where the highest aim is justice.  We must make others accountable for their actions.  This, unless it leads to forgiveness and mercy, is pure, raw, evil.  Accountability and justice are worthless, wicked goals in their own right: for only God can wield loving accountability and justice.

We must become a completely different kind of people, a God-like people if we expect to get to heaven.

The Church must put away all her bitter divisions, to become again the bride she once was at the beginning: pure, forgiving, merciful.  The Church must do again her first works.

As it stands today, many are doing their utmost to turn this once beautiful bride into an ugly slut.  May God have mercy on our souls: for we don’t even realize what we are doing.[3]

[4]

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[1] Which is to say, make it a gift; don’t lend it at all.  The old adage still applies, “Neither borrower, nor lender be.”

https://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/neither-borrower-nor-lender

[2] Matthew 6:12, 14-15; 18:23-35

[3] Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60

[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

2015

2015

We surge ahead to the modern era.  Some will say, none of this applies to me; it’s all archaic and outmoded: gee, I thought we were smarter than that.  Yes, J&L, as well as CF&I, and countless others are all toast: how can they possibly affect me.

Let’s take a more understandable small business example, a dentist.

We will conveniently ignore the fact that many modern dentists are following the path of the small farmer.  Small farms are rare today, most farming is done by large corporations.  The farmer is no longer an independent capitalist, no longer a sole-proprietor, no longer on duty for 24 x 7; instead, he reports to work like any other employee: as with other business, the money is spun off through leveraging, and usury.  It seems as if a new dental corporation emerges every day: Gentle, Depot, Aspen, and more.  The private dentist will not be able to long compete with this juggernaut.  In spite of all the facts to the contrary, let’s suppose that dentistry is still a viable business entity: you graduate, hang out your shingle, and start making money.

Suppose that you graduated with your DDS last May.  After eight grueling years of study, during which you made no income, you are now saddled with $20,000 in undergraduate debt, and $300,000 of dental school debt.[i]  Your dental school placement offices conduct demography studies for the broad area, and a promising potential site has been identified in a small town without local dental services.  You assemble and submit your business plans to banks, building contractors, equipment manufacturers, and a host of others.  You acquire all your local and state licenses.  Much of this preparatory work was laid out while you were still in school.  So, by June you are ready to open your doors to your first paying customer.  You are also $400,000 deeper in debt;[ii] that’s $720,00 gross, three quarters of a million dollars.  This says nothing of the fact that you also want to buy a house, marry, and raise a family… another $250,000 conservatively.  That’s right, at square one, you’re already in hock for a cool million bucks in round numbers.

You are organized as a sole-proprietor.  You have no employees: you do all your own prophylaxis, x-ray, and other work.  An answering service handles all phone calls, appointments, and prints out a daily summary to your email.  Dentures, crowns, and other devices are contracted to a big city lab with overnight delivery.

The question is, who is the real owner?  On paper, you, as sole-proprietor, are the only owner.  In fact, your vestiture is 0%, you are leveraged to the roof top and will be for many years.  Who is the real capitalist?  In theory, you are.  In reality: the bank owns the building; the manufacturer owns the specialized equipment, which is, in turn, leveraged to another bank; your house and car are mortgaged.  The bank(s) is/are the true capitalist/owner/proprie-tor(s).  The specialized equipment manufacturer is an intermediate capitalist/owner/proprietor.  The only thing you have capital ownership over is a mountain of debt.

Business goes well for several years.  The bank takes its cut off the top: most of the earnings go to service interest or usury.  Your vestiture grows only very slowly.  The specialized equipment manufacturer takes its cut next.  You are saddled with maintenance, repair, and other operational costs, which easily run 10% of the gross capital value every year.[iii]  Dentistry is a rapidly growing technological field, so you must also bear the cost of new equipment or leverage these as well.  After a decade, you might find yourself vested at 10%... at last, you have become a capital owner.  On the other hand, you are still the enslaved employee of the bank and specialized equipment manufacturer.  The government and insurance companies tell you what services you may perform, what you may charge for them, and pretty much every other aspect of doing business: but, you are a capitalist, an owner, a sole-proprietor of 10% of pretty much nothing… all the hard decisions are made for you by others… you get to lock and unlock the doors, and pay the bills.  The teeter won’t begin to totter until you pass the half way point.  Firm ground will not be attained until you reach 100% and eliminate all leverage.

The demographics of your business is sustained by a small manufacturing plant that employs 200 people.  These, in turn, spend enough money in town to sustain 200 other people’s jobs (including yours); together they support the town budget over and above what the local farm and ranch business supplies.  These are your customers.  This is the whole basis of your success as a dentist.  After a decade, the manufacturing plant can no longer compete, lays off all its employees, and locks its doors.  All your customers, 400 of them, are now out of work; moving away as fast as they can find new jobs: and you are out of business as well.

Who takes all the risk?  Does the bank have any risk?  Not really.  They might have made slightly more money had the mortgages played out their full time limit: but the interest fees collected up-front covered their capital investment a long time ago; they’ve been making gravy ever since; so the bank has no true risk at this level.  Does the specialized equipment manufacturer have any risk?  Not really.  They took a minor hit; but, they scooped up all the equipment; resold it to other dentists; and with sales and other fees, pocketed a tidy profit at your expense.  The building went back to the bank, with little risk, and was soon leased to another venture.  Who took all the risk?  You did.  All those leveraged debts are in your name, and baring bankruptcy, you are obliged to pay them off: so, you must start over.  At best, you recoup a few thousand bucks of equity; really nothing compared to the mountains of debt you still own.

Who is the real capitalist?  The bank is.  Any idea of your own capitalism is delusional.  The risk to the bank, which is sheltered by up-front interest or usury fees, is nil.  The chance that the bank won’t pick up all the chips, and spin them off in new loans is zero.  The bank will make the same amount of money in the long haul; just from another customer; they experienced a minor bump in the road.

Who are the real owners?  The real estate firm and the specialized equipment manufacturer are.  Any concept of personal ownership is a form of psychological denial.  The risks to the real estate firm and the specialized equipment manufacturer are nonexistent.  All the hard assets are recovered in days, and put back into play: it was a bump in the road.  You get to keep your shirt, your diploma, and your debts.

Capitalism or ownership as we think of it, together with its concomitant risks, simply does not exist in a leveraged society.  There is no more risk to the bank, the true capitalist-owner, than there is to the local casino; one person’s luck is soon offset by the losses of another; there is no risk to the casino: for, 10% is taken off the top of every bet.  The only true risk falls on the back of the player, the employee, the hard-working poor person... in this case, you, a young dentist, fresh out of dental school.

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[i] http://doctorly.org/cost-vs-reward-of-a-dental-school-education/

[ii] https://benevis.com/content/cost-of-starting-a-dental-practice/

[iii] 10% of $1,000,000 is 100,000 a year, one-tenth of a million dollars.

1955

1955

In 1955 Jones and Laughlin[i] was a vibrant player in the steel industry.  A short time later J&L borrowed money[ii] from the Carnegie Mellon Bank[iii].  Had we truly though ahead on all the ramifications of exponential equations we might have predicted what would come next.  It world remain another decade for Al Bartlett[iv] to explain these to us in clear understandable ways.

This transfer of massive amounts of money did far more than shift ownership from a Steel Man to a Banker.  What Bartlett might have warned us, had he been two or three decades earlier, was the inevitable headship of major corporations by accountants[v], followed by lawyers[vi].  Any sensible person knows that growth is mathematically unsustainable, initially undetectable, and chronologically overwhelming, the clock is ticking.  This is why accountants would take over to manage the money growth; as well as why lawyers would be necessary to sort out the legal battles when it became clear that growth was unsustainable and collapsing under its own weight.

In spite of these preposterous impossibilities, nearly all business and government models are based on growth.  Federal budgets might range between 2 to 5% growth in conservative years, and even higher in progressive years.  This means that we can expect the economy to crash within fourteen to thirty-five years or sooner: it was planned that way.  In actual fact, the federal bailouts seem to be following election cycles, crashing roughly every eight years.

Still, around 1955, most of us understood business models in terms of agricultural[vii] cycles.  Those were heady times: The Great Depression (1929-39) and WWII (1939-45) were past; After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Wall Street was not widely trusted[viii]; The Chevy short-block was starting to take over the drag strip, and men could feel the flow of power return to their muscles.  Big Steel would surely last forever.

Eventually, leverage[ix], would far outstrip the pittance J&L borrowed post-55.  Leverages of 90% would not be unheard-of.  The shift in ownership changed much more than ownership.

†       Banks now owned the corporations.
†       Steel Men ceased to run the Steel business.
†       The business emphasis shifted from making Steel to making Money.
†       Money shifted the value of hard capital to mythical paper and electronic treasures.
†       Usury soon made money outweigh real capital values by many magnitudes.
†       While money was growing due to usury, real capital was declining due to age related decay.
†       Money made business appear to be growing in a true downturn economy; so, market corrections became less and less obvious, less and less automatic.
†       The ability to offset downturns with money, made the eventual downturns larger and more disastrous; instead of annual corrections, decade corrections were put into play.

Business collapse still wiped out the “old” owner, but he was no longer relevant; the true owner was the “new” owner, the Bank.  The Bank didn’t get wiped out.  Why?

†       The true profits had been milked off through usury.  Having made and pocketed billions, a few million here and there is an affordable statistical loss, a cost of doing business: this is no different than a casino facing a big payout to a bid winner… and that can be managed too.
†       In contrast to the pseudo-capital gains created by usury, the hard capital losses are now insignificant.
†       The paper losses are now a tax-deductible line item; the Bank does not suffer: the tax paying public foots the bill.
†       While hard capital losses are also tax-deductible they are still a real business downturn: the stockholders foot the bill.
†       If paper losses spin out of control, as they eventually must, a federal bailout picks up the tab: again, the tax paying public foots the bill.
†       The true owners, the Banks, are rewarded with executive bonuses and raises.

As long as the federal government is committed to spinning off all down turn losses on the general public, on the backs of the hard-working poor, there is no true business risk to the true owners, the Banks: everybody else faces big risks and losses.

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[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_and_Laughlin_Steel_Company

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLRB_v._Jones_%26_Laughlin_Steel_Corp.

[ii] Around 21% of its gross worth, as I recall… the exact numbers don’t matter.

[iii] Today Mellon HQ’s from NYC; but as I recall, around 1955 it was Carnegie Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Steel, Carnegie Mellon University… you get the connections.

[iv] University of Colorado, Boulder, Dept. of Physics, circa 1965 or later

http://www.albartlett.org/presentations/arithmetic_population_energy_video1.html
https://www.albartlett.org/presentations/arithmetic_population_energy.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Allen_Bartlett

[v] 1975, to pull a number out of thin air.  Business historians could greatly sharpen these numbers for us: but, we’re simply trying to recapture a very general picture from memory.  If we err, you’ll forgive us: for, we’re merely painting, where neither memory, nor oil on canvas permit great precision… only, Monet like, in broad brush strokes….

[vi] 1985, in keeping with the theme of decades.  These are not real dates, just general tendencies… the tendencies are real enough: major business magazines of the era were filled with the discussions.

[vii] Agriculture is now defined as, “turning oil into food”.

We remember that in an agricultural economy, that the amazing growth of summer, must face the winter downturn, and begin again from zero, next spring.  Unlimited and unrestrained growth, year after year, was and still is a physical impossibility.  The lessons of “The Ant and the Grasshopper” were still in play; saving for winter and other future needs were still necessary.  “Waste not, want not.”  The bitter stings of the Stock Market crash (1929), reminded us all that conservation was essential to life.

[viii] In 1929, many corrupt and dangerous practices, such as churning money were still legal.  Even today, churning is still practiced, albeit secretly.  Few people realize that money is made by shorting in a Bear Market.  Insider trading is still legal for members of federal government.  There are many more ways to make money than in a Bull Market.  Churning is still possible through the manipulation of large volumes of commodities.  The digital age has reduced real money to split-second decisions.  The rest of us are happy to check our balances once a month.

[ix] Leverage is the practice of borrowing money to accelerate business.  When money is under limited supply, such as in a gold or silver economy, leverage is also limited, borrowing is a zero-sum game.  But under a paper or digital electronic economy, money is in unlimited supply: leverage has no boundaries… just print or digitize more.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

“You forgave us our debts; as we also forgive our debtors.” — Matthew 6:12

“Because of this, the kingdom of heaven was made like a human king, who wanted to audit accounts with his servants; so, when he began the audit, one debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him; yet, not having his own ability to repay, his lord demanded him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and everything, as much as he had, to be repaid.  Falling thus, the servant prostrates to him, begging, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything’; being so moved to pity, the lord of this servant released him, and forgave him the debt.

“Exiting (or escaping) now, the same servant, found (or caught) one of his fellow servants, who was an hundred denarii indebted to him: seizing him, he chokes him, demanding, ‘Repay me whatever you are indebted.’  Falling thus, at his feet, his fellow servant pleads with him, begging, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay everything to you’; yet, he would not, but departing, threw him into prison, until he could repay the debt.

“So, his fellow servants, having seen what was happening, they were vehemently upset, and coming they explained to their lord everything that was happening.

“Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘Servant!  Wicked!  all that debt that I forgave you as soon as you asked me: Was it not also necessary for you to also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I also had mercy on you?  And his lord being furious, delivered him to the torturers, until he could repay all the debt.

“Thus also, my heavenly Father will do to you, if you would not forgive, each one, his brother from your hearts, their side-falls.” — Matthew 18:23-35

“You forgave us our debts; as we also forgive our debtors.” — Matthew 6:12

“For if you have forgiven men their side-falls, then your heavenly Father will forgive you.  Yet if you have not forgiven men their side-falls, neither will your Father forgive your side-falls.” — Matthew 6:14-15

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Two common mistakes are made:

†       One, forgiveness is not essential to salvation.  Wrong.  Forgiveness is essential to salvation: for, it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God’s forgiveness as an unforgiving person.

†       Two, it has nothing to do with money.  Wrong.  It has everything to do with money: for, money is not only the chief example with good reason: for money is also the chief abuse of forgiveness.

August 25, 2014 Monday Message, National Destruction

...  in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us.  Lord, cleanse us from our sins.  Master, pardon our iniquities.  Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for Your Name’s sake.  Lord have mercy (three times).

August 25, 2014 Monday Message, National Destruction

The Gospel

Matthew 18:23-35 a personal translation

Because of this the kingdom of heaven was compared to a human king, who wanted to review accounts with his stewards.  So starting to review, a debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him.  Since he was [unable] to pay, his lord ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, to make payment.

Thus the steward, falling down, prostrated before him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.  So, being moved with compassion, that steward’s lord freed him, and forgave him the loan.

Now, immediately coming out, that steward found one of his fellow stewards who owed him an hundred denarii, and seizing him, strangled [him], saying, Pay me what you owe.  Thus his fellow steward, falling down at his feet, begged him, saying, have patience with me, and I will repay everything to you.  Now he refused, but as he was leaving, threw him into prison, until he could pay the debt.

Well, his fellow stewards, seeing what was taking place, were vehemently grieved, and coming, explained to their lord everything that had taken place.

Then, summoning [him], his lord said, you wicked steward, I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.  Shouldn’t you also have showed your fellow steward mercy, as I also showed you mercy?

And being furious, his lord delivered him to the tormentors, until he could repay the whole debt.  Thus, My heavenly Father shall do to you, as well; unless you each forgive your brothers’ trespasses from your hearts.

The Homily

Sunday we delivered this message to our nation.

“For this very reason our nation is being condemned and destroyed by God.

“Are you concerned about a lack of good jobs?  Look no further.  Are you concerned about national security?  Look no further.  Are you concerned about any other major social issue?  Look no further.”

Let us be very clear.  This is not a message about prophetic doom and gloom.  I am not a prophet, nor do I speak as a prophet.  This is a message about the undeniable realities of arithmetic.  This is a message about cold, hard cash; and about worthless fiat paper money and electron money.  This is a message about finance.

Here is the fundamental equation for interest:

FV = PV * (1 + r) ^ n

The future value (FV) is equal to the present value (PV) times the quantity of one plus the interest rate for some time period (1 + r), raised to the number of time periods that pass (n).

If we stop to think for a moment, we quickly realize that this is identical to the fundamental equation for exponential growth:

y_t = y₀ * (1 + r) ^ t

The magnitude at some future time (y_t) is equal to the starting magnitude (y₀) times the quantity of one plus the growth rate for some time period (1 + r), raised to the number of time periods that pass (t).

Or using Napier’s mathematical expression:

y(t) = y₀ * e ^ (-kt)

This expression is handy, because it allows us to get into the idea of logarithms, which allow us solve problems that, without logarithms, could only be solved by trial and error, or understanding of finite series mathematics.  However, we are not going there today.  This math lesson is painful enough.

We’ve seen this exponential equation before, and we already know that it is lethal.

We already know from the perspective of the final value that the exponential equation explodes into infinity.  An infinite final value requires infinite power to sustain.  Since God alone has infinite power, the exponential equation cannot be sustained my man, and it eventually collapses under its own weight.  At some arbitrarily small value, it must be arrested before it reeks destruction, havoc on everything it touches.  As an equation, it’s just a harmless exercise in arithmetic.  When it is applied to any area of reality, it quickly threatens life.  For this reason alone our nation is being condemned and destroyed by God.  Actually, this is self-destructive behavior; by attempting to play God, we are destroying ourselves.

From the perspective of time the exponential equation reduces the time left to avoid disaster to zero, zilch, nada.  Again this is a harmless equation.  Applied to life it appears harmless and innocent.  Yet, by the time we realize that it is growing very rapidly, there may not be enough time left to stop it in time to avoid a great deal of destruction.

In the proof of these matters, back in grade school arithmetic we learned that saving money was a good idea.  Buy savings bonds or start a savings account.  One dollar invested in savings at 2% will double in value every 34.66 years.  Put in one dollar and get two dollars back: no sweat, no work, it’s a good deal.  In 69.31 years your one dollar will double twice and be worth four dollars.  We will temporarily ignore the fact that the government is coming to collect taxes on your profits.  Is this really a good deal?

Let’s take a side trip before we answer that question.  Exactly how long does it take for a dollar to double its value at any given annual interest rate?  Using our fundamental equation for interest we want the future value to be two times the present value:

FV = 2 * PV = PV * (1 + r) ^ n

We see that PV divides out of the equation leaving:

2 = (1 + r) ^ n

Now we need to solve for the number of years it will take to double (n), which is also called the doubling time.  We need logarithms to solve this equation.  If you have never studied logarithms, or don’t understand them, not to worry, any handy engineering, math, or science student should be able to explain the basics of logarithms to you.  Logarithms may be first studied in a high school trigonometry class.  Alternately, you can search for logarithm articles on the internet, using your favorite search engine, where you will find dozens of articles wanting to explain logarithms to you.  Here we go:

ln (2) = ln [(1 + r) ^ n] = n * ln (1 + r)

Now, solving for n just involves a little first year algebra:

n = ln (2) / ln (1 + r)

Now, solving for n merely requires an ln table and grade school long division.  Your spreadsheet program on your computer has an ln table built into it, and does long division in the blink of an eye.  Just type in:

= ln(2) to get the numerator: .693 ≈ .70

Now, type in, don’t forget to use decimals (1% is .01):

=ln(1+r) to get the denominator

Now, divide the numerator by the denominator to get the exact number of years in your spreadsheet.  It’s easy.

At this point a hand trick can be very useful.  For small interest values, even 10% and larger:

ln(1+r) ≈ r

Go ahead, check it out with your spreadsheet.  Now you can do approximate, rule of thumb calculations in your head, using nothing more than grade school division:

n ≈ .70 / r or 70 / r%

This is conveniently called the Rule of 70, and you should try to remember it.  Money at 2% interest will double about every 35 years (34.66 years, exactly).

We digress.  Is this really a good deal?  Your grade school arithmetic teacher taught you that buying savings bonds or starting a savings account is a good deal.  Your grade school arithmetic teacher probably didn’t know, and didn’t teach you that savings is a zero-sum game.  The chances that a grade school arithmetic teacher spent a lot of time studying game theory are slim to none.

What is a zero-sum game?  If I win, you lose.  If you win, I lose.  That’s what a zero-sum game is.  Wherever there is a winner, there is also a loser; and the size of the win is exactly the same as the size of the loss.  Green Bay won by one touchdown; the Steelers lost the same game by exactly one touchdown.  This ain’t rocket science folks, this is just a little easy thinking.  Now my savings plan doesn’t look so good, because the dollar I doubled, was taken out of somebody else’s pocket.  I won a buck; they lost a buck; maybe they couldn’t afford to lose that buck.  There are words for this kind of transaction: petty larceny, robbery, theft.  It’s all legal.  Yet, now my savings plan doesn’t look so good: because I may have taken that dollar out of a poor persons pocket.

It only gets worse.  If I loaned my dollar to a fool, who spent it on some frivolity and destroyed it: in 35 years the fool will be unable to pay me back; I’ll be out my dollar, and out of 35 years of better opportunities for investing.  If I loaned my dollar to a person, who invested it wisely and multiplied it 100 times in 35 years: I will get two dollars; the investor will get 98 dollars; and I will be proved a sucker.  If I bought a savings bond with my dollar, the government will likely squander the money on some destructive frivolity (war, for instance): in 35 years the government will be unable to pay me back; and the government will tax me to pay back my own money; I’ll be out my dollar, and out of 35 years of better opportunities for investing.

At this point, it may be clear that actual money really does grow on trees.  Had I used my dollar to buy a pack of tomato seeds, which I then carefully planted, cultivated, nourished, and watered; labored and sweated over: at the end of a year I would have hundreds upon hundreds of tomatoes, more tomatoes than I could possibly eat.  I’d be canning tomatoes, saving tomato seeds for next year’s crop, and selling tomatoes for profit.  Had I then used my profits to buy peach saplings, which I then carefully planted, cultivated, nourished, and watered; labored and sweated over: at the end of 30 years my peach trees would mature, and I would be producing peaches, bushels of peaches for the next 5 years.  At the end of 35 years I would be a truly wealth man; I would have made thousands of times my original investment; I would have robbed no one: all because the gifts of God are better….

Let’s change the scenario to make me the borrower, instead of the lender or saver.  And let’s suppose that I’m always going to pay the loan back in monthly increments.  The exact formula to calculate payments in this transaction is:

P = Li / (1 - 1/(1+i)^n = Li / (1 - e ^ -n*ln (1+i))

My spreadsheet has a hand exact calculation called PMT, which is a lot easier to use than the exact formula.  So I do the math in the spreadsheet.

=PMT(Rate,Nper,Pv,Fv,Type)

At age 17, fresh out of high school, I’m itching to have a car.  My folks are willing to help me and I found a new car for $20,000, with a six year mortgage at a six percent annual interest rate.  My Rate is 6%/100/12, or .005 per month.  I have 72 monthly payments to make.  The Pv is $20,000.  I’m going to pay the mortgage completely, so the Fv is 0.  No special payments (balloons) will be made, so the Type is also 0.  My new car costs $331.46 a month for 72 months.  Over the course of the loan, I pay $23,864.96 total: $20,000 to the car dealership; $3,864.96 to the lending institution.  At the end of six years, my new car is a worthless piece of junk, and I’m now in a spiral of entrapment which will continue at a rate of $3,864.96, or more, every six years for the rest of my natural life.  Sixty years later, I will have given $38,649.60, or more, to lending institutions for car purchases.  At the end of sixty years, I will have nothing to show for my money.  That is expensive money.  What did the lending institution do to earn this money?  Nothing: they just sat around on their fat derrieres and counted their profits.

At age 21, fresh out of college, or even while I’m in college, I’m dying to have a credit card.  I need to buy things.  I run the same math as for the car.  I get a credit card deal at only 20% annual interest, no penalties or fees, and maintain an unpaid balance of $1,000 for fifty years.  That $1,000 balance costs me $9,000.49 in interest expenses.  That is really expensive money.  The lending institution is still counting.  I’m sweating.

At age 30, I’ve found the love of my life, we marry, buy a house, and start raising kids.  We find a nice small place for $100,000, with a 4.5% fixed-rate, thirty-year mortgage.  This costs us $82,406.71 in interest and nearly doubles the cost of the house.  In the meantime, we are confronted with constant maintenance costs and remodeling expenses, averaging, $10,000 a year, not to mention house insurance.  At the end of thirty years, our house will have a zero Pv, but if we’ve faithfully kept up with repairs, it might still be worth $100,000.  If we chose a good location, it might be worth more; but in a really bad location, it might be back to zero.  At least we hope to have a roof over our heads.  Life is good, we have the kids, we have each other, we’re not so old that the medical bills have started to pile up.

I’ll ask you one more time.  Is this really a good deal?  We’ve spent $120,000 on house and cars.  We’ve floated $1,000: God knows what that might have bought.  This cost us an additional $95,272.16 in interest charges, nearly twice the cost of goods sold.  We might have invested the same money in factories, farming, forestry, or fishing and made a fortune by now.  Can anyone, other than the lending institutions, win at this game?  I think not.  Is this really a good deal?  Absolutely not.  Growing money on trees is a good deal.  This is a terrible deal.

Your grade school arithmetic teacher probably didn’t know, and certainly failed to teach you, that a savings plan, and a borrowing plan are no different than gambling.  Your grade school arithmetic teacher taught you that saving is a good thing, gambling is a bad thing; in reality, they are the same thing.  So here we are, suckered in, and sold into a crushing downward spiral of financial slavery from which we can never recover.  The only good interest rate is zero.  The only good loan is no loan.  The only reasonable savings plan is a safe deposit box, a can in the yard, or a mattress full of cash.  That won’t “win friends, influence people,” or make more money.  Neither will it steal from the poor.

It only gets worse.  Businesses and governments play this game at the billions and trillions of dollars level.  All the interest costs and other losses come back to us in the cost of goods sold, in taxes, and in inflation.  At least business yields products.  Government, on the other hand produces very little of marketable value: roughly 25% of federal dollars support the military, another 25% support research mostly for the military, a little money funds roads.  State dollars are not spent much more wisely: roughly 50% is spent on education, but actually goes to grandiose programs; little goes to teachers.  Giving or lending money to government is like lending to a fool: the money will likely be squandered, and we will certainly never see it again.  We will be lucky to settle for ten cents on the dollar when we deal with government.  Contrasted to a tree that produces thousands and thousands of God given profits, government is a very, very bad deal.  Sweat is a good deal.  We do not possess the infinite power required to support this infinite cost.  You do the math.

Government could do much better.  Government could get us completely out of the usury game.  Government could, but government won’t.  "Compound interest was once regarded as the worst kind of usury and was severely condemned by Roman law…."[1]

For this very reason our nation is being condemned and destroyed by God.  Or rather, we should say, for this very reason we are causing this self-destructive behavior.  By attempting to play God, we are destroying each other and ourselves. [2]

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_interest

[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

August 24, 2014 Sunday Sermon, National Destruction

...  in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us.  Lord, cleanse us from our sins.  Master, pardon our iniquities.  Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for Your Name’s sake.  Lord have mercy (three times).

August 24, 2014 Sunday Sermon, National Destruction

The Gospel

Matthew 18:23-35 a personal translation

Because of this[1] the kingdom of heaven was compared to a human king, who wanted to review accounts[2] with his stewards.  So starting to review, a debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him.[3]  Since he was [unable] to pay,[4] his lord ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, to make payment.

Thus the steward, falling down, prostrated[5] before him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.  So, being moved with compassion, that steward’s lord freed him, and forgave him the loan.[6]

Now, immediately coming out, that steward found one of his fellow stewards who owed him an hundred denarii,[7] and seizing him, strangled [him],[8] saying, Pay me what you owe.[9]  Thus his fellow steward, falling down at his feet, begged him, saying, have patience with me, and I will repay everything to you.  Now he refused, but as he was leaving,[10] threw him into prison, until he could pay the debt.

Well, his fellow stewards, seeing what was taking place, were vehemently grieved,[11] and coming, explained to their lord everything[12] that had taken place.

Then, summoning [him], his lord said, you wicked steward,[13] I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.  Shouldn’t you also have showed your fellow steward mercy, as I also showed you mercy?

And being furious, his lord delivered him to the tormentors, until he could repay the whole debt.[14]  Thus, My heavenly Father shall do to you, as well; unless you each forgive your brothers’ trespasses from your hearts.[15]

The Homily

For this very reason our nation is being condemned and destroyed by God.

Are you concerned about a lack of good jobs?  Look no further.  Are you concerned about national security?  Look no further.  Are you concerned about any other major social issue?  Look no further.

God has destroyed and ground into powder every civilization and nation that has raised itself in defiance of Him, since the foundation of the world.  Ancient, Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Assyria, Greece, and Rome are all so much dust on the pages of history.  Nazi Germany and many other corrupted empires are nothing more than vapors in the wind: long forgotten cloudy memories, of their many past defiances of God.

The United States is no different than other historic nations.  As they were destroyed, so we shall be destroyed, if we continue on our cruel, oppressive, sinful path.

No nation can long survive, which builds its culture and economy on debt, lending, and usury.  God forbids all such slavery.

Have you labored long and hard, earning your bread by sweat and toil?  You may keep what you have; it is God’s gift to you.

Have you filled your coffers by lending and usury?  This is robbery and theft on a grand scale.  You must give back every penny you stole from the poor, and never lend or charge usury again.  Rather, you must learn to give, expecting nothing in return.  If refuse to do this, you will be destroyed, together with those around you, your dependents.

The word debt, in the Bible, refers to any serious breach of The Ten Commandments.  Lending and usury are forms of murder.  There are other such breaches: none are tolerable.

The word trespasses, in the Bible, refers to relatively minor offenses.  These must be forgiven as well.  This does not give us the right to nurse every injured feeling, or hurt.  Trespasses must be kept in line with Bible guidelines.  Nevertheless, we must forgive everything: for this very reason we cry out, “Lord have mercy!”

If we fail to forgive both debts and trespasses, we will bring down the maximum weight of our own debts on our heads.  Should we fail to be obedient to such supernatural forgiveness, we will find ourselves hopelessly in debt to God.

For this very reason our nation is being condemned and destroyed by God.[16]

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[1] Because Peter has just asked Jesus how often he must forgive.  The astounding answer is, always: we must always forgive.  We have no choice in this matter.  God Himself demands the obedience of our forgiveness.  In the broader context this is the conclusion, the punch line for the fourth section of Matthew (13:53-18:35), and as such sharpens the major theme of Matthew, which is the absolute necessity of forgiveness.  We must not think that such forgiveness is humanly possible.  No.  No.  A thousand times, no.  Such forgiveness can only be accomplished with Divine help.  For this cause Jesus died, and the Holy Ghost came: so that we might learn to forgive.

[2] Review accounts is a bit periphrastic for, “take up words or records,” but in the context there can be little doubt about the meaning, for the ensuing actions vividly explain everything.  So take up words either means a review of the financial records, with a view to correcting high risk or failing ventures; or else it means a review of the financial records, with a view to closing all of the accounts.  We only need to know that he intends to close one.

[3] During the review a serious discrepancy is discovered.  We are not told what it is; but one calculation made in 1990 estimates the value at $3.84 billion.  My calculation using 2012 silver values is around $20 billion.  The 500% increase, between 1990 and 2012, is mostly due to inflation.  $20 billion is larger than the bailout of Chrysler Corporation in 1980.  $20 billion is not the size of the total account, but only the size of the shortfall, or net loss.

[4] The expression, “not having to pay,” certainly communicates inability.  No wonder; what kind of a business would not be bankrupted by this kind of a loss.  The amount is so large that it staggers the imagination; which is the intent of the magnitude.  Most businesses could at least sell off capital to get close to net zero.  But $20 billion in the red is unimaginable; it may as well be infinite.  It represents the true magnitude of our sins, which are infinite.

[5] He fell on his knees and face on the ground in the standard position of prostration as demonstrated by Jehu, the King of Israel, on the “Black Obelisk” of Shalmaneser III (http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=black+obelisk+ of+shalmaneser& view
=detail&id=3A01D0995D88EC688875D7B9B237D25E3558EE34&first=0).

[6] The contrast between the king and his unforgiving steward is remarkable.  Ultimately, the king is not concerned with his money or his rank, he quickly writes off this huge debt.  The unforgiving steward, however, is all about money and rank: for, shark like, he quickly rises to defend both, with utmost cruelty and with murderous intent.

[7] The shortfall is roughly $13.351 thousand, less than the price of a new car in 2012.  The ratio for the contrast between $20 billion and $13.351 thousand is 1.5 million to 1.  This ratio does not fluctuate with the value of silver.

[8] The contrast between performing a prostration willingly, and falling down fainting from a beating; adds vividness to an already amazingly cruel story.  But this is how God sees us.

[9] This is an extreme example of extortion.  This individual has many of the characteristics of a criminal loan shark or loan shark enforcer.

[10] He is going right back out to continue his cruel and ugly business with other victims.

[11] Words scarcely suffice to describe the shock and violence of their emotional reaction.

[12] They reported in glowing detail.  No detail was spared.  No stone was left unturned.

[13] It may be difficult to define unforgivable sin, but this parable, closing the fourth section of Matthew, pictures it.  It is unforgivable to receive mercy, and fail to extend it to others.  It is unforgivable to receive forgiveness, and not forgive.  Everything must be forgiven: every debt, grudge, offense, sin, slight, transgression, trespass.  There is one exception, and that belongs to God.  The person who does not forgive, who shows no mercy, who sets traps to cause others to sin; this person receives what he dishes out: he cannot be forgiven.  But, that is God’s decision to make, not ours.

[14] It is impossible that this debt could ever be paid.  This is banishment from the presence and glory of God and into an eternal Gehenna of Hell’s fire, with wailing and gnashing of teeth. (See verses 8-9).  The only way out is to forgive all subordinate debt, and cast one’s self on the mercy of the Divine Court of Justice, which functions on mercy as its principal rule.

[15] The ultimate conclusion is that forgiveness and mercy are not options, they are Laws of the Kingdom, as is love.  This concludes Matthew’s fourth discourse of Jesus.  However, the lesson is so important that it is repeated in chapter 25, at the end of the fifth discourse.  Tangencies with the Lord’s Prayer are also clear.

[16] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.