"God Bless my Pa, my bird Dickey and my dog Gulliver and my lizard, also wherever it is he ran away to, and Barney Fife and my white mouse and Jerry, Tommy and Billy and my snake. Amen. I forgot somebody very important. God Bless Rose, even though she ran off and got married."
October 3rd, 1960 was the date; it was the very first episode of "The Andy Griffith Show", titled "The New Housekeeper". From there, the rest, they say, is history.
Show writer Bill Idelson once shared his opinion of why the "Andy Griffith Show" enjoyed success: "You know what the secret of the show is? You know why everybody loves it? It's about man's humanity to man rather than man's inhumanity to man. He's a sheriff, the police - the symbol of oppression, brutality, and ignorance throughout the world - and here's a guy who treats his neighbors and the people on the street as if they are human beings. I think people hunger for that so much that it transcends all of culture."
Andy Griffith: Christian, first; then a vocalist, actor, stand-up comic, producer, schoolteacher. Today, Andy went home--and to a much better place than even Mayberry.
"Former UNC President Bill Friday broke the news to WITN News in North Carolina" that the beloved Andy Griffith had passed away at the age of 86.
The Andy Griffith show lasted just eight seasons; its impact, though, is still felt today.
"Andy Griffith insisted that each show have a moral,"... "And religion is portrayed the way it fits into the life of people of faith: just as part of everyday affairs and conversation. It's a secular show, but you know these are churchgoing, God-fearing people." (1)
"I firmly believe that in every situation, no matter how difficult, God extends grace greater than the hardship, and strength and peace of mind that can lead us to a place higher than where we were before." (2) -Andy Griffith
The Andy Griffith Show, filled with religious-overtones, was even made into a Bible Study: "The Way Back to Mayberry: Lessons from Simpler Times" takes the moral themes and values in the show and uses them as a guide to Biblical Truth.
This, the show, and the legacy left behind by Andy Griffith is one that will continue to live on.
In a day where the Christian religion is openly mocked, The Andy Griffith show embraced it. It was a light; a light that still shines.
You have to think long and hard - probably without results - of another show that would embrace showing a little guy on his knees praying out to God, as did The Andy Griffith Show.
Could you find a show that would revolve an entire episode around Sunday being a day of rest - as did the episode "Man In a Hurry" did? This episode - episode #77 - revolved around Malcolm Tucker experiencing car trouble; Mr. Tucker was in such a hurry that he was halted not only by his car but by the fact that on Sunday - the day his car broke down - Mayberry rested. "Man In a Hurry" - I think we have all been there. Too busy, too much in a hurry to realize the beauty and majesty of our Lord and the grace that has been given to us; too much in a hurry to actually devote our entire lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; we all, at times, have been a "man in a hurry". By the end of the episode Mr. Tucker - who was very frazzled in the beginning - can actually be seen smiling and consumed with the infection love that Mayberry offered him - on Sunday.
Everyone should remember the episode "Opie and the Birdman" - episode # 96 - when Opie accidentally kills a bird with his old-fashioned slingshot. Not only did this episode show the moral story of 1) Andy warning Opie to be careful; 2) Opie being extremely sorry, and distraught, for his action; 3) Opie, then, taking responsibility for his actions; 4) doing, then, the right thing (Proverbs 3:5-6); and 5) Andy leading his son (Matthew 5:13-16) to make a difference and, further, how to let go (Isaiah 40:31); but also a very subtle Bible lesson from Barney Fife himself - Barney, while helping Opie make his slingshot, told Opie how there was another boy who was famous with a sling back in the "olden times"
Opie: "The cage sure looks awful empty, don't it Pa?"
Andy: "Yes son, it sure does. But, don't the trees seem nice and full"
Episode after episode, chock-full of moral story after moral story.
In my opinion there are great practical lessons that we can take away from Andy Griffith and the show it-self, "The Andy Griffith Show". What made - and continues to make - the show so very popular was what show writer Bill Idelson once said; I, like Idelson, think people are still hungry for man's humanity to man rather than the evil that protrudes, not only, in real life, but, on the TV-screens.
We do not need to conform to the world, rather, we need to open up our Bible's and show the world the good news of Jesus Christ - a man, our God, who came to Earth and shared his divine nature, as well as his humanity, with the world; loving, teaching, and saving the world from its own evil.
G.K. Chesterton once said: "We do not want, as the newspapers say, a church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world."
I think returning to Mayberry would be a good start.
"God Bless Pa"
Andrew Samuel "Andy" Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012)
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