Are we giving or taking?

Kaity Holtman

In a very short song called “The End” on their Abbey Road album, the Beatles sang “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

And many people use those lyrics as their life’s mantra. It’s always been a favorite lyric of mine.

But much newer artist Andy Grammar, whom I like but can’t imagine comparing to the Beatles, has sort of challenged those famous Fab 4 lyrics in his song “Give Love.”

“’Cause in the end, the love we take’s got nothing on the love we make.”

Since I heard that song the first time, the topic has been on my mind.

First, I thought, how dare someone challenge the Beatles.

But then, I thought, well, he has a good point.

If we do everything right, if we live a life of servitude and giving like God calls us to, then Grammar is right – we want to give more than we take.

We live in a time of self-indulgence and “treat yourself” mentalities. We are always trying to find the balance between doing enough serving, volunteering and giving, and finding time for ourselves so we don’t burn out.

Today’s society is overflowing with consumerism and recreation. We spend more time working to live, instead of in the past when people lived to work more.

It seems that volunteerism comes because we have to … instead of because we want to.

It’s also worth note that (I think) we as a society spend less time in church than we used to.

Faith, volunteering, and serving others is not meant to be a forced “get your hours in,” or “no one else will step up to do it.”

Giving of ourselves is meant to be something we do because it’s the right thing to do, and because it’s part of our desire to reflect God’s image of His endless giving.

Back to the lyrics, I suppose the Grammar words are wrong if we make it to Heaven. If we focus our lives on giving, then “the love we take” means our seat in Heaven.

And in that case, the love we take is eternal and perfect, so that prize is far above anything we can do here on earth.

In our bibles, Matthew 25:40 tells us, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

So the love and kindness we show to the least of all people, is exactly how we treat God.

He created us in His image, meaning that every person – no matter their status, title, wealth, race, background, etc. – is literally called to be a reflection of God, both in how they are treated, and in how they treat others.

Love can be shown in a number of ways, but most of all, it’s genuine, pure, and wholehearted.

It’s not always easy, and it’s not always pretty. It’s most certainly not always what society tells us it should be.

But it is always the answer.

So maybe it’s not about which lyrics are right.

Maybe we just focus on the giving part of the lyrics, and be thankful with any love we get back, both in this life, and eternally.

I recently heard a quote from Albert Camus that said, “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t, than live as if there isn’t and die to find out that there is.”

I know I can do a better job of giving of myself – my time, my resources – than I currently do. I want to give more, especially when I think of how much love I take from others and from God.

So as we enter the season of focusing on being thankful and giving to others, my focus will be just that – giving, however I can.

Kaity Holtman is the Agriculture Editor for the Maryville Daily Forum.