"Mom, Andy Griffith died today," our son, Jamie, said over the phone. We were on our way to his brother, Mark's, house in North Carolina last week. I hadn't heard it, not having been too connected to anything during this vacation.
"That is so strange!" I exclaimed. "We were just talking about visiting Mt. Airy on this trip!" Now I really wanted to go. We were there a couple of years ago and his presence was felt all over town in the place where he grew up. We saw Andy's childhood home, the drugstore (think Ellie) where he made deliveries on his bike as a youth, the diner, and Floyd's Barber Shop.
We at last didn't visit "Mayberry," but Mark and Rhonda did take us to the lovely, historic town of Wilmington, NC. I found out later that Andy Griffith had worked out of a talent agency there when he first got his start in acting.
Like millions of others, I felt I had lost an old friend. His show was so wholesome that churches have used them as Bible study lessons, calling them modern day parables, reflecting the positive character traits and concern for his fellowman that Sheriff Andy Taylor exhibited.
In some of the information written about this well-loved actor, I read that he had considered becoming a minister before he went into acting. Maybe he inadvertently was one through his influence and the Bible studies.
In a sermon at church yesterday, a missionary from Africa titled his message, "A Christian's Job Description," as found in Acts 1:8, which says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."
The young, black African with the crisp British accent said we should all ask ourselves the question, "Why am I here?", in light of the probability that we all have had narrow escapes many times in our lives and wonder what we are still doing here. The answer is that we are saved to be a Christian witness. He said we are not told how, but we are just told to do it. We will all have our own way to be a witness, but the important thing is to "just do it."
We had our share of narrow escapes, or brushes with danger, on our 2,000 mile trip. Coming back, we were caught in a sudden freak weather condition with strong winds coming out of nowhere, debris flying thick and fast over the road, and billowing dust engulfing areas around us. I made a 911 call and was told by the responder that she didn't know what was happening, but that the town we were passing through was being slammed hard. We ran in and out of this unsettling phenomenon for many miles before we got beyond it, often having a difficult time keeping the car on the road.
At one point, our road took us through a tunnel. As soon as we entered, coming out of bright sunlight into the darker tunnel, Howard exclaimed, "I can't see!" There were lights, but it took awhile for his eyes to adjust. We had some anxious moments before we saw "the light at the end of the tunnel." God also brought us through traffic tie-ups due to detours in several cities. We arrived thankfully safe at home just at dusk. Thankfully, because my husband has poor night vision. We know what we are still doing here.
No comments:
Post a Comment