Last month, Lady Gaga sang Mr. Rogers’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” as part of a Super Bowl ad featuring neighbors of all ages supporting one another — after a storm, during a move and when a dog was lost. It ended with children riding their bikes down the street and the tagline: “America could use a neighbor just like you.” It was heartwarming, but also heartbreaking, as we witness so many unneighborly actions across our communities, our country and our world. And so, on this day, we lift up the life and ministry of Fred Rogers and are reminded of God’s call to love our neighbor.
Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastor whose work was recognized as a validated ministry. He is a notable public figure whose lifelong commitment to peace and reconciliation is worth remembering. Rogers was also a pioneer in media literacy, inclusiveness, Christian education and the spiritual formation of young children. March 20 marks his birthday, a fitting time to highlight his enduring legacy.
We live in a world filled with personal, community, and global conflict, where it can sometimes be difficult to cope or remain hopeful. Fred Rogers’ peacemaking sensibilities — both on and off camera — continue to inform our lives today. He practiced deep listening, deep thinking and deep understanding. He modeled the building of neighborhoods rooted in compassion and peace through the Neighborhood of Make-Believe on his television program, through his testimony before Congress, and through curriculum such as Peacemaking in the Family: Four Intergenerational Events, originally written with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
Author Michael Long, in his book “Peaceful Neighbor: Rediscovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers,” writes:
“Peace is possible, according to Rogers, first because each of us is equipped with a powerful moral imagination — the ability to see goodness in moments of crisis and danger. As Mister Rogers puts this in his concluding monologue, ‘You see, people can imagine bad things, hurtful things, angry war-like things, but people can also imagine good things, helpful things, happy peaceful things.’ … Peace is possible because we are actors, not passive victims, who can always choose to create the peace we have envisioned.”
May we follow God as Rogers did — choosing peace and building neighborhoods of compassion.
(A wealth of resources to celebrate the legacy of Fred Rogers, engage in peacemaking, and practice neighborliness can be found at pcusa.org/about-pcusa/agencies-entities/interim-unified-agency/ministry-areas/christian-formation/mr-rogers-day-resources. These resources may be used on March 20 or any day throughout the year and include Walking in God’s Path of Peace, an intergenerational worship liturgy; the hymn “Jesus, Teach Us to Be Neighbors”; a coloring page; the Building a Neighborhood Together intergenerational peacemaking project; and Neighboring Sunday activities.)
Miatta Wilson, Mission Associate for Christian Formation, Interim Unified Agency, PC(USA), pcusa.org/formation
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff:
Vivian Blade, Program Manager, Unification Management Office, Interim Unified Agency
Margaret Boone, Project Manager, Special Offerings, Administrative Services Group (A Corporation)
Let us pray:
Gracious and loving God, come near and be with us today and help us to look for ways to be a neighbor, to share love and to build peace. Come near, and be with those who are hurting in homes, communities and around the world. Come near and be with the peacebuilders and those finding ways to show your love in both difficult and ordinary situations. Amen.
Author Michael Long, in his book “Peaceful Neighbor: Rediscovering the Counter Cultural Mister Rogers,” says “Peace is possible, according to Rogers, first because each of us is equipped with a powerful moral imagination — the ability to see goodness in moments of crisis and danger. As Mister Rogers puts this in his concluding monologue, ‘You see, people can imagine bad things, hurtful things, angry war-like things, but people can also imagine good things, helpful things, happy peaceful things.’ … Peace is possible because we are actors, not passive victims, who can always choose to create the peace we have envisioned.”
“Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve heard their story,” Fred Rogers once said.
When I close my eyes, I can see Mr. Rogers changing his shoes, putting on his sweater and singing … “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Growing up in the early 1970s, “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” was one of several PBS shows my younger sister and I watched. And when I reflect now on over 30 years of educational ministry, it’s easy to see how he influenced me, whether through his gentle, direct, respectful voice or the use of puppets and music or his emphasis on neighborliness, inclusion and peacemaking.
