The passing of Andy Griffith leaves the story of Mayberry’s
sheriff, Andy Taylor, burned in our hearts. He kept the peace without a gun
because of who he was for them.
Andy Taylor to Barney Fife: When a
man carries a gun all the time, the respect he thinks he's getting might really
be fear. So I don't carry a gun because I don't want the people of Mayberry to
fear a gun. I'd rather they respect me.
Think back over the shows. No matter which one you liked, it probably had
that same quality of down-home America
and the respect between people—which Andy Taylor upheld without a gun. Although a popular show, Griffith as “Matlock” did not carry that same
grace for relationships.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He said that he wished that he himself could
have been half the man as the fictional character. He said that the point of the show was "love." Barney would set himself up for a fall, and Andy would catch him.
Ron Howard, the boyhood Opie, tweeted: “Pursuit
of excellence and joy in reaching it shaped my life and generations. Rest in
peace, Andy.”
Ask yourself…
What is your real character that needs to walk among others
and leave the fiction behind? I suppose we are all trying to make love less fictional in our world.
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