Song of Solomon
8:7
World English Bible
(WEB)
7 Many waters can’t quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,
he would be utterly scorned.
neither can floods drown it.
If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,
he would be utterly scorned.
Fred Clarke and John Fetzer were best friends and partners
in the radio business back in the late 1920s. Fetzer had bought WEMC and
converted it to WKZO. This was the most popular radio station in southwestern
Michigan. Fetzer later moved it to Kalamazoo. Then he started or acquired radio
stations across the United States. During World War II he was the national
radio censor for the U.S. Office of Censorship to make sure that secrets were
not broadcast to the enemies. After the war he shut the office down. He stated
later that if he hadn’t, it would have continued, and he “shuddered to think
how powerful it might” have become. He owned the Detroit Tigers baseball team
for twenty years and became famous in Michigan.
When Fred’s father died of a heart attack, Fred did a lot of
serious thinking about where his life was heading. He, too, saw the possibility
of great riches and an easy life, but he also saw the great opportunities of
service to God. Over his father’s coffin he pledged his love and service to the
Lord. He promised that he would do whatever God would have him do, go wherever
God asked him to go, and never ask what his salary was going to be. He remained
a good friend of John and persuaded him to help support the founding of Solusi
University that became a major university in the emerging country of Zimbabwe.
It was the only school of higher learning to remain open throughout the civil
war and later disastrous, runaway inflation that destroyed the country’s
economy.
Fred would occasionally speak of his opportunities with
Fetzer, telling how fulfilling and satisfying his life choice had been since
then. His educational work has benefited many of the countries of southern and
central Africa. Although he was never wealthy, he lived a comfortable and beneficial
life until his death at nearly 101 years old.
Oh Lord, may we scorn offers of wealth and resist circumstances
that attempt to drive out our love for You.
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