Today, June 1, is the birthday of Andy Griffith. Those of you who know me know I love Andy Griffith. For several years I did an ‘Andy Griffith Bible Study’ on Wednesdays during the summer. It was great and I have every episode of ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ I even loved him on Matlock. Though Andy died in 2012, his legacy lives on in his TV shows.
My experiences with Andy Griffith started before watching him on TV. My grandmother had an old record player with an Andy Griffith comedy record (45 rpm). My brother & I would listen to ‘What it was was football’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ every time we went to her house.
Andy Griffith was a devout Christian who had a successful career singing Gospel music. As a child in Sunday School in Mt. Airy, North Carolina where he was born and raised (and one of the inspirations for Mayberry), he “would sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ so loud that everybody would notice.”
Even when he suffered from Guillain-Barr syndrome he told Guideposts: “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.”
His life and work was a testimony to his faith. ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ premiered in October of 1960 and ranked in the top 10 shows in the nation during each of its 8 seasons. Concerning the Andy Griffith Show, George Lindsay, who played Goober, said, ‘One of the incredible things about every single episode is that Andy insisted each show have a moral point, something good, lofty and moral. It’s a shame current shows on TV don’t adopt that high road.’
He started his professional life as a choir director at First Baptist Church of Goldsboro, North Carolina but left it to pursue his acting career. At the age of 69, Andy Griffith released “I Love To Tell The Story – 25 Favorite Hymns” saying in a BMI press release: “Jesus let me become a singer again. So that’s full circle and I hope those who listen to this record, I Love to Tell the Story, will enjoy it and be blessed by it as much as we who played and sang on it were. Thank you.”
Following a heart attack in July 2012, his wife, Cindi, stated: “Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord. He is the love of my life, my constant companion, my partner, and my best friend. I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God’s Grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God.”