Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

“There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”

Mr. Fred M.Rogers

Since the recent release of the movie about Fred Rogers or “Mr. Rogers” to those of us who grew up watching him on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on TV, it has caused me to reflect on the life of this man.

I have listened to old interviews given by him on talk shows and I can’t help but think what an exceptional person he truly was. Fred Rogers seems to be the perfect example of Galatians 5:22-23 that says,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” 

If you ever sat and watched him on his TV program you would agree that the fruit of the Spirit seemed to be oozing out of his pores. What is even more amazing is what you saw of him on TV was how he really was in real life. He seems to defy human nature. How can anyone exude so much peace, have such quiet gentleness, intentionally speaking kindness in all situations and in all of it demonstrate such love? When he spoke, his words were slow and deliberate and always seemed to have such conviction in every word expressed. Every word had such passion and meaning it was like every part of his whole being was being expressed in each word he spoke.

In one interview he shared his thoughts on TV programming. Television programming should express “that all people should know that each one of us is precious, and should let everyone know that they have value.” That struck me as profound. When was the last time you heard anyone say anything like that?

What if we lived like Fred Rogers? 

Some might think that is a bit extreme. Mr. Rogers is the opposite of what our culture stereotypes men as and no one would ever describe him as macho. Fred was a grown man who had a soft speaking voice, who openly discussed feelings and sang songs like, “It’s you I like”, reaffirming that it is okay to be different.

What if our mission in life was to share love because you want all people to know that they are precious and have value?

Does that sound sappy to you? 1 John 4:7-9 it says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, Because God is love.” Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian Minister. I highly doubt he thought he could ever be too sappy based on the knowledge that God is Love.

What if every time you saw someone your first thoughts were “They are precious to God. I hope they know they are precious.”

When I was young I dreaded going to school everyday. I was ruthlessly, verbally bullied. I had one friend out of 30 classmates I could play with. In gym class when we divided into teams I was always one of the last to be chosen, if not the last to be chosen on someone’s team. After school I would arrive at home in time to watch Mr. Rogers at 4 p.m. I really liked Mr. Rogers because he was so kind and said nice things but it made me very sad because Mr. Rogers was on TV and not a person I saw in my real life, everyday. I wanted people to be kind to me all the time and not just for 30 minutes by some person on a TV program who really didn’t even know that I existed.

But how I felt as a child is true for many adults. Many adults dread having to go to work and having to deal with co-workers or bosses who are not kind. Some adults live with a spouse that is difficult to deal with.  A little kindness could go a long way if there was someone who was intentional about sharing it with them. It would give them hope that there is someone who sees that their life has value.

There came a time when I stopped watching Mr. Rogers. I confess after several years of not seeing his program on TV, when I was about in my early 20’s, I happened to catch a glance of a show and just about gagged. I thought it was the sappiest thing I had ever seen. It seemed so fake because who can be that nice? But I have grown in my relationship with the Lord and I can see people differently now because I can see how precious God made them. Fred Rogers is a life to be admired and to aspire to. I see the miraculous love of God that abided in this man. He had a beautiful vision and he stayed true to who he was and allowed the fruit of the Spirit to move through him.

Just think of what the world would have missed out on if he had tried to make himself something he wasn’t? If he would have been concerned about being macho then he wouldn’t have talked about feelings.

Some people find it difficult to share their faith with other people. I think part of being able to share our faith with someone has to do with our ability to embrace who God made us to be and walk in it. The other part is being able to see people as being precious and having value.

“I don’t think anyone can grow unless he’s loved exactly as he is now, appreciated for what he is rather than what he will be.”

Mr. Fred M. Rogers

Photo taken and designed by Lorraine