Mister Rogers Captivates Me Again

MISTER ROGERS CAPTIVATES ME AGAIN

 

I’ve just finished reading a wonderful book, Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever, by Gavin Edwards.

 

For a person who was all grown up and agreeably childless by the time Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood debuted, you might find it curious that I’ve become, after his death, one of his biggest fans.

 

I have several of his books and have read the reminiscences of people who knew and worked with him. I have watched him address Senator Pastore in Congress petitioning for more money from the federal government for PBS (on YouTube—don’t miss it!) and melting the man’s “tough” heart into the puddle mine always assumes whenever I see or read about Fred Rogers.

 

I’ve said before that he reminds me of DeForest Kelley, but both were, of course, unique individuals, as we all are.

 

But these two men shared a common thread: they were “men of the cloth” whose ministries were both secular and sacred.

 

They truly saw and embraced their audiences, their loved ones, and their “pulpits,” spreading love, encouragement, and a sense of enormous personal, intrinsic value to those they touched.

 

Kids and wounded people especially need men and women like these.

 

If you haven’t seen the motion picture A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, please do yourself a favor and rent it. I plan to buy it. Tom Hanks does a masterful job of resurrecting Fred Rogers.

 

If you haven’t watched Mister Rogers on TV, you still can. Everyone needs someone in their corner who truly understands and cherishes them.

 

But maybe even before you go in search of him for the first time (if it will be your first time), you should read Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever. It will immerse you in the essence of Fred Rogers in ways I haven’t encountered before. It will show you the path he took, the challenges he faced, and the love and legacy that he left to the world in ways that will put you into tears. I can’t even count the number of times I cried while reading it.

 

If there were more Fred Rogers’ and DeForest Kelley’s in this world, it could be the heaven on earth that we all hope it will someday become.

 

“When I grow up,” I want to be like Fred Rogers and DeForest Kelley.  They are my role models.

 

They knew how to love and support tender hearts carefully, graciously and profoundly.

 

God, I miss them!