I’ve always enjoyed The Andy Griffith Show. One of my favorite scenes is from Episode 8 of Season 1 entitled “Opie’s Charity.” Andy learns that his son Opie had contributed a “piddling amount” of only 3 cents toward his school’s Underprivileged Children’s Drive. In trying to help his son understand the importance of charity, he begins his instruction with some numbers to help him understand how great the need is. The dialogue proceeds as follows…
I remember singing the song “Give Me That Old-Time Religion” back in the 1980s. Back then it was just another song, but these days I seem to have somehow developed a sincere longing for that old-time religion. Interestingly, the song dates back to 1873, which means people singing this song in the 19th century also wanted some of that old-time religion. It then also occurred to me, that reformation never involves the discovery of something new. It has always been the recovery of something old that had been lost…