Sadly, Fred Rogers died a little over a week ago. Winds of Change.NET has run a few items about Mr. Rogers, including a defense of him at Dartmouth, a goodbye post, and last week's Sufi Wisdom feature (with an URL to a great Salon.com article).
This week, I came across a couple new resources that cried out to be shared, and speak to the full depth of the man. Lets start with a story that talks about his influence and activities beyond the TV screen:
" When Mr. Rogers came to Baltimore 16 years ago to visit a little girl in a coma, he insisted on one thing only: There would be no publicity...."The rest of this story is remarkable on all counts. Read it!
The second article comes from someone in his line of work, and includes this excerpt:
"Often they didn't want to watch Mister Rogers: "No!" they would howl in noisy despair. They didn't want to feel better. They wanted to stay distraught - odd, that: sometimes we would rather remain in our agitation than be guided out of it. Then it was time for a nice bath, no matter what the hour: a change of pace, a fresh page upon which to start a new chapter. They must have known, somewhere in their angry little hearts, that it would work, for they never offered more than token refusals, and soon two sweet-smelling little girls would be sitting quietly, watching the toy train chug across the television screen into the Neighborhood of Make Believe.Fine beyond all hope, as a pastor - and as a human being.I had not known he was ill. I suppose his retirement not long ago had something to do with that, and that he preferred not to say so publicly. Always looking out for our feelings, Rodge, even at the end.
He was in my line of work. Ordained a Presbyterian minister, he spent most of his career being Mister Rogers on the television. He didn't have a congregation in a church building. He didn't speak to his young audience about God, not directly, although he sometimes did to audiences of their parents and grandparents. But, if it is a pastor's work to lead people into reconciliation and truth, he was a fine pastor, church or no church."
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