IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

I originally wrote this article not long after Fred Rogers passed away. Cassie used to love him so much (I'm glad she doesn't read my blogs...all the girls are always saying, "MOOOOM! Why did you say that???).

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

     I have always been a fan of Mr. Rogers.   He just always seemed like such a nice guy.   I have never read anything bad about him anywhere.   All accounts have always been that he was as kind as he appeared on television.   On the occasion of Mr. Rogers’ retirement, Tim Goodman, writer for the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, had this to say about Mr. Rogers:

     “It's not difficult to fully appreciate Rogers. If you have a decent bone in your body-- even the most cynical among you -- then in your heart you know he's quite possibly the nicest man who ever lived.

     In television, we are given daily doses of little lies. We come to love our characters and our actors, and then our reverence is poked rudely in the eye once we get to know them better.

     But Rogers was the real deal. That wasn't an act he gave the kids of this country for 33 years. When someone yelled, "Cut!" he didn't angrily peel the sweater off, rush out to his Mercedes and lean on his horn all the way home, cursing life. If you ever met Fred Rogers face to face, you were changed forever.”

     You may be aware of the fact that Mr. Rogers passed away on February 27, 2003.   Since    then many articles have appeared about him.   The one following came from foxnews.com:

     “Through the years, Rogers dealt with topics ranging from anger and anxiety to death and divorce. He taught children how to share and even why they shouldn't fear taking a bath by assuring them they would never go down the drain.

  "Mister Rogers was the father who was available. He was the unhurried guy who always had time for the kids," said Alan Hilfer, a child psychologist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York.

  Bob Keeshan, who appeared on television as "Captain Kangaroo," said he and Rogers often spoke of how children's programming had become increasingly violent.

  "I don't think it's any secret that Fred and I were not very happy with the way children's television had gone," Keeshan said.

  Bill Kelly, a professor who specializes in popular culture and television at Penn State University, said, "Some of the shows today are simply the vehicle to market goods, which is really sinister. Fred never did that. He had a clear interest in kids, he was concerned about them and there was no ulterior motive."

  Rogers never stopped trying to make a difference.”

     Wouldn’t that be a nice way to be remembered?   As someone who really cared about others and who never stopped trying to make a difference?

     Mr. Rogers’ theme song was “IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.”   We should always feel that it’s a beautiful day in our neighborhood because we, as Christians, have access to so much that the world—even kindly Mr. Rogers—does not.

     It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood because of divine providence.   We know that God loves us; He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to be our Saviour (John 3:16).   He loves us, and if we love one another, His love will be perfected in us (I John 4:12).   We are important to God.   He did not need us; He wanted us.   God cares so much for us, He knows so much about us, that the very hairs of our head are numbered (Luke 12:6,7).    God listens to our prayers (John 15:7).   He Is always there and He will take care of us.   We read in Psalm 121:

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.  The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.  The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

     With this kind of assurance of how God keeps us in His care continually, how could it not be a beautiful day?

     It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood because of designated people.    Not only will God care for us, He has also provided us with Christian companionship. As the song “A COMMON LOVE” says, we have “A common love for each other, A common gift to the Savior, A common bond holding us to the Lord; A common strength when we're weary, A common hope for tomorrow, A common joy in the truth of God's Word. “ 

     The church in Acts 2 “continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”   Christian fellowship is a very important part of our Christian lives.   Not only does it afford us opportunities to lean on each other and hence become stronger Christians who are able to withstand the “wiles of the devil,” but if we do not spend time together, how will we know the needs of our brothers and sisters?   We have a Christian family who loves us and will help us.   A family to whom we are important; one who will listen to us and encourage us.  

        Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:1-5: “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:1-5).

     And in Philippians 1:3-6 Paul speaks of his happiness in the fellowship he feels with the church at Philippi:

     “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,  For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: …”

     Truly, it is a beautiful neighborhood with such beautiful neighbors!

     It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood because of decisive participation.   Likewise, we must love our fellowman (I John 4:7,8; I Peter 2:17) and help him in any way that we can, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ (Galatians 6:2,10).   We cannot expect to live in a beautiful neighborhood without helping to make it that way.   Our neighborhood will not keep itself beautiful without our participation.   Without making a conscious decision to help, chances are we will neglect our neighborhood.   It is up to us to make our neighborhood the most wonderful place as possible.   We learn in the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) that anyone is our neighbor if we have the opportunity to help.   And we learn in Matthew 28:19 of the greatest way we can help anyone.   If we were to decide to actively participate in evangelizing the world, think what a beautiful neighborhood we would indeed all live in.   We can make a difference one soul at a time.   Every day would be a beautiful day and we would have but an early glimpse of heaven here on earth were all our neighbors Christians.

--Beckye Mosher