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HIS NEIGHBORHOOD
March 20th has been designated as Good Neighbor Day (or Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day), in celebration of Fred Roger’s birthday on March 20th, 1928.
Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian Minister, ordained in 1963. He felt called to live out his ministry with children and families through the mass media, “…all through his life and resurrection, Jesus demonstrates the power of showing and sharing God’s love. Every time I write a script or a song or walk into the studio, I pray, ‘Let some word that is heard, be Thine.’ That’s really all that matters.” It leads a person to wonder how closely linked the very title of his television show, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and his famous tag line, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” are to Jesus’ commandment from the Gospels, “Thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself.”
The above video gives you a peek at Mr. Rogers in one of his more memorable public speaking events, where he petitions against a twenty million cut in funding to public television. His demeanor is calm. His speech is slow. He talks about his work with children as an expression of care, his concern with what children are seeing on television and his desire to teach each child how valued and special they are. If you have made it through the day and have yet to see anything uplifting and meaningful, I suggest you take a minute to watch. After all, you might be well out of childhood, but you were his neighbor, too.
CPC has recently been doing our best to follow that great commandment and be the kind of neighbor Mr. Rogers exemplified. Our auction last weekend was an incredible success. While we don’t have exact numbers yet, we know that we not only raised a substantial amount for our High School Work Camp, but for Mac Middle School and The Giving Closet as well. The generosity was overwhelming. We are gearing up for Parents Night Out, excited to serve our preschool and church families as an ‘expression of care’. The kids at K2 have been writing their letters, building our neighborhood within the church, getting to know older members who have taken the time to participate in the Secret Pals program.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, and Mr. Rogers shows us how powerful following that commandment can be.
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