Every so often, something wonderful happens, in that two of my favorite things come together. Like for, instance, once when I came around the corner with a jar of peanut butter and my then future wife came around the same corner from the opposite direction with a chocolate bar... Just kidding! (You younger folks may very well not remember the commercial anyway.) All jokes aside, however, sometimes, two great things really do come together seemingly out of nowhere.
When I was in the tenth grade, I enjoyed going to church and especially Sunday School. (In those days, that was pretty much the extent of my social life.) One Sunday, I walked in, expecting to see all my regular friends; and, lo and behold, there in the midst of them sat this new girl - who one day really would become my beautiful wife! I thank God that two of the personages I love most, my bride (Vickie) and His bride (the Church), came together at that one time and place. I like to think of that as double blessing!
Well, those who know me well know that I love Christmas. It is one of my favorite times of the year. As a child, obviously, I loved it for selfish reasons. I still love Christmas now; only for different, and hopefully better and more mature reasons than I once did.
And those who know me well also know that I love The Andy Griffith Show. (I have blogged several times about this before.) In fact, I have often summed up my life with this observation: “I like to think of myself as Sheriff Taylor; but in reality, I know in my heart that I am only Deputy Fife!” But, while I do have my share of shortcomings, as displayed in Barney, I do at least strive for the ideal, as displayed in Andy. Pray for me that I might have more Andy type days than I do Barney type days.
But I digress. A couple of years ago, the man known as the mayor of Music Row, singer-songwriter Charlie Monk, wrote and released a song titled “Andy and Opie Christmas”. In doing so, he managed to create the perfect combination: Christmas and Mayberry!
I have been unable to find the lyrics online; but the press release (along with a link to the YouTube video) is here: http://www.mu
sicrow.com/2011/12/country-christmas-with-the-skaggs-joeyror
y-little-big-town-charlie-monk/. Or you can go directly to the YouTube itself site at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNr-luG1zNQ. Take a moment or two to watch it. I think you will be glad you did. Who knows, you might even decide it qualifies as a double blessing!
By the way, for those of you who do not know already, there really is an official “Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club”. Its web page address is: http://www.imayberry.com/. While there, you can find information about "The Christmas Story" (the only episode of The Andy Griffith Show devoted entirely to Christmas) at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Story_(The_Andy
_Griffith_Show).
Sadly, one cannot go back and walk the original streets of “Mayberry” today, as the Desilu back lot itself was demolished and turned into a development in the late 1970’s. But, for an extra blessing, get lost in the closest thing there is to the "real" place at: http://www.retroweb.com/40acres_tour.html.
When I was in the tenth grade, I enjoyed going to church and especially Sunday School. (In those days, that was pretty much the extent of my social life.) One Sunday, I walked in, expecting to see all my regular friends; and, lo and behold, there in the midst of them sat this new girl - who one day really would become my beautiful wife! I thank God that two of the personages I love most, my bride (Vickie) and His bride (the Church), came together at that one time and place. I like to think of that as double blessing!
Well, those who know me well know that I love Christmas. It is one of my favorite times of the year. As a child, obviously, I loved it for selfish reasons. I still love Christmas now; only for different, and hopefully better and more mature reasons than I once did.
And those who know me well also know that I love The Andy Griffith Show. (I have blogged several times about this before.) In fact, I have often summed up my life with this observation: “I like to think of myself as Sheriff Taylor; but in reality, I know in my heart that I am only Deputy Fife!” But, while I do have my share of shortcomings, as displayed in Barney, I do at least strive for the ideal, as displayed in Andy. Pray for me that I might have more Andy type days than I do Barney type days.
But I digress. A couple of years ago, the man known as the mayor of Music Row, singer-songwriter Charlie Monk, wrote and released a song titled “Andy and Opie Christmas”. In doing so, he managed to create the perfect combination: Christmas and Mayberry!
I have been unable to find the lyrics online; but the press release (along with a link to the YouTube video) is here: http://www.mu
sicrow.com/2011/12/country-christmas-with-the-skaggs-joeyror
y-little-big-town-charlie-monk/. Or you can go directly to the YouTube itself site at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNr-luG1zNQ. Take a moment or two to watch it. I think you will be glad you did. Who knows, you might even decide it qualifies as a double blessing!
By the way, for those of you who do not know already, there really is an official “Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club”. Its web page address is: http://www.imayberry.com/. While there, you can find information about "The Christmas Story" (the only episode of The Andy Griffith Show devoted entirely to Christmas) at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Story_(The_Andy
_Griffith_Show).
Sadly, one cannot go back and walk the original streets of “Mayberry” today, as the Desilu back lot itself was demolished and turned into a development in the late 1970’s. But, for an extra blessing, get lost in the closest thing there is to the "real" place at: http://www.retroweb.com/40acres_tour.html.