GR&S "All You Need Is Love?"

The Beatles said, "All You Need Is Love," but just a couple years later they were bitter enemies and broke up. (Thanks to Larry Norman for pointing this out to us.) John was mad at Paul for being hung up on money, marrying a rich chick and trying to make her daddio the manager. George was p.o.'ed because the other dudes didn't appreciate his songs enough. Everybody was mad at John for bringing in that weird chick, Yoko, and messing up their scene.

What a drag. Our heros were saying "All You Need Is Love," but they didn't seem to have much. We found out a lot of our friends didn't have as much love as we thought, either. People we trusted ripped us off and trashed our pad when they came over to party. We were pretty bummed for a while.

Then we found out that love is not what we thought it was. We thought love was a groovy feeling inside. We thought saying, "I love you, man," was love.

We checked out what the Bible says about love, and we found 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. What a trip. We couldn't find anything about feelin' groovy there. What we found was really mod. Love is attitudes and action. It's patient, kind, doesn't envy or boast. It always protects, always hopes, always perseveres, always trusts. It keeps no record of wrongs.

This blew our minds. So many of the people who said they loved us disappeared when they got tired of us, didn't like our body odor, decided to rip us off, stole our chick, etc. Love is when you don't ditch somebody because of their b.o. Love sticks around and teaches you how to use the shower and apply some Right Guard. Love is, like, a commitment. When you love somebody, you stick with them regardless of the circumstances.

Our minds were blown because this is 180 degrees opposite of what we learned in the sixties. We talked about love, but we also tried to destroy the concept of "commitment." We thought you could be free by not being committed to anything or anyone or anyplace in particular. But without commitment there's no real love, man!

Now we're bummed, because what we talked about in the sixties is so widespread today. Relationships only last as long as they are fun, fulfilling, and rewarding. You never know when your chick might leave you because she's tired of you. Lots of kids feel unwanted because they interfere with their parents' pursuit of career success and fun. Nobody loves their country, their school, or their church anymore unless it makes them feel groovy.

We think it's really important for everybody to groove on real love. That means attitude and actions based on commitment. Dig it!