Mayberry, My Home Town

People ask me where I grew up and I answer, “Mayberry!”  You all remember the Andy Griffith Show with Opie, Aunt Bea, Deputy Barnie Fife, along with the rest of the town of Mayberry.
 
Yes, Mayberry—where everyone was your neighbor.  You sat on the front porch in the cool of the evening and visited with all those who came by.  A walk around the block took a long time because you just had to stop and talk to everyone.  A place where you never had to lock your door and if you did, one skeleton key opened every door in town.  To get the news you didn’t buy a paper because everything you needed to know was shared down at the barber shop.  An idyllic, picturesque place that we all pine after.
 
As I look back at my youth, it seems that growing up in Titonka, Iowa was a lot like that quaint, quiet, scenic, loving town of Mayberry.  Where, it seemed, everybody knew your name.  A place where if you were on the upside of a teeter-totter your friend on the low side would never jump off.  A place where you could ride your bicycle to school, park it in the rack that still stands there today, and after school your bicycle was still there.  A bicycle lock?  What was that???  Stop at your relative’s house and there was always a sugar cookie waiting there for you.
 
Well, we all know that, though visions of Mayberry dance in our heads, there is no such place on earth anymore.  But there is a place we can call home where God knows our name.  Beautiful, lovely, serene, you pick the adjective, and it’s called Heaven.  A place where a walk around the block might take a thousand years….but who’s counting?
 
Praying that you are all my neighbors one day in our Heavenly home!!
 
Love to all,
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved