Sunday, February 12, 2017

Learning from Andy Griffith - "The Case of the Punch in the Nose"

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is "Andy Griffith." The wisdom and wholesomeness of Andy, coupled with the naivety and comedy of Barney, make for great TV. Not long ago, I was watching "The Case of the Punch in the Nose" and saw some great spiritual lessons. Barney was going through some old courthouse paperwork, only to discover an open case involving Floyd and Charlie in which a fight had broken out. Andy tells him it was over, in the past, and they had moved on; BUT Barney insisted on trying to close the books on this case. It turns out that Andy was right! Barney's efforts reopened an old wound and resurrected the argument.

This show revealed the truth and great wisdom to the old idiom, "It's better to let sleeping dogs lie." Sometimes it's better just to leave things as they are; especially, in an effort to avoid rekindling an old argument or making matters worse. I have occasionally witnessed the same thing in working with people. I've watched people open old arguments that seemed to have been healed and forgotten, only to have them flare up worse than before.

I can think of situations in marriage , church, athletics, employment, and other relationships that would have been served much better by moving on, rather than looking back. I'm sure you can think of your own illustrations. So, just for fun, take time to watch "Andy Griffith - The Case of the Punch in the Nose" by clicking the link below. I think we can all learn a valuable life's lesson at Barney's expense. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy952r_andy-griffith-s05e25-case-of-the-punch-in-the-nose_shortfilms

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