Dear Reader:

I just recently discovered a quite interesting story about the Beatles and one of the last songs written by them in the album Abbey Lane called “The End.”

The quote in the title of this blog is found in the lyrics to this song and how introspective they are when read and contemplated .

Before the author included this historical “tidbit”… another story was told in connection…from sermons.com. Here is the “catalyst”anecdote.

Years ago, when the Betty Crocker Company first began selling their cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to the mix which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake every time.

It bombed. No one bought it and the company couldn’t understand why, so they commissioned a study which brought back a surprising answer. It seemed that people weren’t buying the cake mix because it was too easy. They didn’t want to be totally excluded from the work of preparing a cake; they wanted to feel that they were contributing something to it.

So, Betty Crocker changed the formula and required the customer to add an egg in addition to water. Immediately, the new cake mix was a huge success.

Unfortunately, many people make the same mistake when it comes to “packaging” or presenting the Christian religion. They try to make the call of Jesus Christ as easy as possible because they’re afraid people won’t “buy it” if it seems too hard.

I remember every year part of my first day “sermon” to my new class of eighth students always ended with…”Remember, you will only get out of this class what you put into it.”  (If they only knew then that I was talking about life…not just my class.)

For some students…this never materialized…they put little or nothing into the class. For others…(who now stop me in stores or on the street- as adults- to tell me they remember this story or that historical story from my class)…I know they did their part that school year…  so many years ago.

In sermons.com (story during Lent season) the author concludes with:

…”It’s true in life isn’t it? If we are going to get anything out of it we have to invest ourselves in it. Do you remember the second to last album by the Beatles? It was called “Abbey Road” and for my money it was their best. The last song is a little musical reprise called “The End.” It’s the last lyrical statement the Beatles make on the album. And it went, “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

As I watch my family grow…I know this to be true personally. The more who enter the world and family…the more our love grows to encompass every new arrival. As a unit we are expanding our love… so that by the end of all our lives we will have much “love baggage” to pack with us. The bigger the bag…the better. Love grows exponentially…doubling over and over and over.

Easter 2014 and Our 2015 Additions- Jake and Lach- From 2 to 4 grandchildren and blessings! (forgot the addition of Atticus…my fourth grand-dog!)

Love was always the only thing we needed entering the world…and the only necessary “baggage” to take with us leaving it. Once again the Beatles summed it up: “All We Need is Love.”

The lyrics to “The End” are implicitly  basic…but then isn’t love?

Oh yeah, all right
Are you gonna be in my dreams tonight?

Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you

And in the end, the love you take
Is equal to the love you make

The Beatles-The End (Animation) – YouTube

So until tomorrow…May we never forget that the love we make today… is the love we take tomorrow.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I think our “Queen” will still be right in control of her male cousin and little brother “subjects”….She appears to be quite comfortable around her male peers…like the birthday party (McGinnis) she attended Saturday. She can hang with the “boys”!