"Mayberry New Year's Prayer"

 A Mayberry Prayer for the New Year
(December 31, 1995)

Lord, help us in the coming year to remember to be loyal to our friends, even when they act like jerks and constantly make mistakes.  Let us help to encourage and build them up even when they arrest the whole town in our absence or keep on locking themselves in the cell. 

Let us remember to help those who have less than us and let us start several "Save the Scobies" Funds this year. 

Make us kind to those around us - even the Ben Weaver’s in our lives.  Maybe in the end, our kindness will soften them a bit. 

Help us remember to take soup to Emma Watson, even when everyone knows she isn’t really sick. 

Teach us to be patient with our children and to trust their judgment a bit more.  When they only give 2 cents to the "Underprivileged Children’s Fund", help us to remember that they might be saving their money for something far more noble.  Give us the strength to teach them character and loyalty.  That when they break someone’s window, they don’t get an allowance until it’s paid for; that they have to clean the garage for the quarter; and that we won’t be manipulated by temper tantrums or breath-holding. 

Lord, help us to do what is right even when it isn’t convenient - just because it’s the right thing to do.  When we get caught having to deliver a baby, let us face responsibility and fear with dignity and composure. 

Let us learn to tolerate those who are different from us.  When the Darlings drop by to see us, let us welcome them into our homes and accommodate their strange needs. 

Teach us to enjoy the simple joys of life - sitting quietly on the front porch with friends and talking, singing "The Little Brown Church in the Wildwood", going to church, town picnics, church dances, skipping stones in the moonlight at Meyers Lake, a lemon phosphate at the diner. 

Let us learn that sometimes our best plans don’t always work out.  When we try to organize a gazebo band concert in one afternoon, let us learn from that experience. 

Make us always quick to house the friend or stranger.  When someone’s mortgage is foreclosed and he has no place to live, let us take him in.  When the stranger’s car breaks down on Sunday, let us feed him fried chicken and offer him a place to sleep. 

Above all, let us never take life too seriously but always with a lot of humor.  Sometimes we need to remember to put the blanket under the legs of the bed or swap hats.  Occasionally we need to put on our fishing hat and funny tie when the state inspector is on his way. 

Lord, help us to be more Mayberry-like this year. 

Amen

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