How much do you know about Mr. Rogers?
He was born in 1928 near Pittsburgh. He didn’t have a particularly happy childhood, as he was often teased for being fat. That is hard for me to imagine since he appears anything but fat in his television show. He was quite a musician, as he created more than 200 songs. He wrote all of the songs for his show, including the iconic opening song “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” His first degree was in music composition from Rollins College. In 1962 he earned his Divinity degree and became ordained as a Presbyterian minister. But television was his passion, specifically finding ways to educate children through the medium.
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood debuted in 1966 and became one of the longest running television shows in history. The series went for 33 years and had over 900 shows, the last one of which was in August of 2001. Rogers did more than just write the music and host the show. He wrote the scripts and produced the show too.
I watched the first episode. Guess what he did? Yes, he visited a neighbor. People would always stop by and visit with him. No one was a stranger to Mister Rogers. And he always asked you if you would be his neighbor. Why do you think he called his show his neighborhood? That concept was central to not only his show but his life. The people we interact with should be seen as our neighbors, and we should treat them with respect and love. Mister Rogers told us he loved Jesus without actually telling us he loved Jesus.
How well do you know your neighbors? I can honestly say I know my immediate neighbors fairly well. But I don’t have to walk far down my own street before I see people I don’t know at all.
Getting along with those that live close to you can be easy or difficult, depending on the situation. When we don’t get along with them there are recurring reasons. Here are the top five neighbor disputes, according to a survey by FindLaw:
Noise. This is the number one way to get on your neighbor’s bad side. It can especially be bad in apartment living, when you have people who live not only beside you but above and/or below you.
Pets. Untrained pets that get loose can cause a lot of problems.
Children. Likewise, untrained children can do lots of things to annoy a neighbor.
Appearance. Sometimes your neighbor doesn’t keep up the appearance of his or her property. Sometimes a neighbor can put offensive signs in their yard.
Boundary disputes. These stem from misconceptions about where your property lines are. This is especially bad when it comes to fences.
There are funny stories about neighbors too. I found a lot of them online. Here are a few.
Someone adopted a stray cat and found out the neighbor’s cat got her pregnant. The person woke up one day to a bag of cat food on the doorstep with a note saying “child support.”
One person said that every winter his neighbor would make a snowball and freeze it until July. The unsuspecting resident would be hit with this snowball for no real reason one day in the summer.
One neighbor actually named their wifi account “WeCanSeeYouShowering.”
And finally, one person reported getting a note from their neighbors asking him to please do something about the dandelions in his yard. So in response he put up a sign in the front advertising “Free dandelions: Take one!”
Neighbors can be funny. Neighbors can be helpful. Neighbors can be strange. But they are your neighbors, and we are commanded to love them. Fred Rogers understood this perhaps more than anybody. He knew how central this idea was to Christians. All you have to do is search for the phrase “love your neighbor” in the bible and you will find a lot of entries:
- Leviticus 19:18
- Matthew 19:19, 5:43
- Mark 12:31
- Luke 10:27
- Romans 13:9
- Romans 15:12
- Galations 5:14
- James 2:8
You get even more results if you expand your search to include loving others.
If we are to take Jesus seriously the neighborhood should be the most loving place around.
Think about this the next time you walk down your street. Get to know the people around you. Let them know you are there for them and you care. It’s what Mr. Rogers would do, because it’s what Jesus did.
God Bless