WWFRD? Or What Would Fred Rogers Do?

"It's a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood!"...

Anyone who is older than perhaps 15 or so remembers Fred Rogers, aka "Mister Rogers," and remembers those immortal beginning words to the theme song of his world-renowned show. Well, known, at least, to the Western world. I don't know how well-known he is in Japan or China or anything, but one never knows. They know about Western artists, so why not a gentle, dapper Presbyterian minister from Pittsburgh?

Many of us watched him every morning before school or afternoon after school, depending on the local PBS station programming schedule.

Those of us who really needed his guiding, loving words feel this immeasurable poignant ache realizing over and over again he's no longer on this physical plane. He was the embodiment of the prayer of St. Francis: "Let me be the channel of Your peace."

It's been eleven years since his passing, still his memory reverberates because the spirit of Love reverberated through all the lives he touched. It is likely he became a surrogate father to those whose own biological fathers were either absent physically or so wounded themselves they could not be good fathers, emotionally. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister, yet he knew that Love goes beyond denominational dogma. He showed the love of God to all who came within his presence.

He was as close to being Christlike as any human can possibly manage while still having human foibles. Such an appellation he would shun, I am pretty sure, his humble nature disallowing him to be equated with such an Ascended Master as Jesus. Yet, when you've been embraced by such Love, even through a television screen, and then you grow up with that memory of Love in your heart, you begin to wonder about how Mr. Rogers would react, or what he would say in response to what's going on in your life...sort of a paraphrase of the 1990s phenomenon of "WWJD?," or What Would Jesus Do?"

Instead, because Fred Rogers is a little more recent figure, but no less loving, it seems, you could easily rephrase it as "What Would Fred Rogers Do?"

And honestly, such unconditional love coming from such a human source makes you wonder just how old his soul is...he is likely quite ancient, and he's off doing the work of Love in other regions of the Otherworld, perhaps being an avatar for Love on some other planet, in some other Universe. And such love as came forth from Mr. Rogers makes one wonder just how the cruel people in the world can possibly live with themselves.

Why am I writing all this? Well, I came across a book in Goodwill today called "I'm Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers." It was written by Fort Worth, TX newspaper columnist Tim Madigan, who began a very beautiful and healing friendship with Fred Rogers back in 1995, thanks to an interview he did with the children's program star.

It's not a large book by any means. It's one of those delightful two-hour reads you find under the Christmas tree because it's such a lovely, spiritual book that reflects the love shown at Christmas and other special times of one's life. I say spiritual because much of the message was about Love, rather than obeying this or that human idea that is often touted as "spiritual," but really isn't. Usually those human laws are more about draconian, fearful control, but Fred Rogers was NEVER like that. He talked about loving each other and respecting each other because everyone is worth loving and respecting, no matter the mistakes they make, no matter their wounds, no matter their flaws.

Knowing this about Mr. Rogers, I really wonder why there is this streak of perfectionism in so many people that seeks to judge so harshly. I wonder about it also because I have that streak myself. I see it and feel it, especially against myself, let alone other people. Am I proud of that judgmental streak? No. Not in the least. Do I experience exasperation when it comes to other people and their not-so-healthy ways of being, of treating others and the planet? Oh, heavens, yes! I experience it to the point of getting quite angry, I'm afraid.

And what makes me angrier is the feeling of not being heard, not being listened to. It makes me both angry and sad because I feel like there's stuff that people need to know--stuff that I feel is coming from deep in my God-self.

So here is where I come back to the question: What Would Fred Rogers Do?

The real, down-to-Earth answer is that I don't know. I never had the great fortune of meeting the guy. So I have to go within to think about my next best guess. And the only thing I can think of is the word "pray." Yeah, he would probably have prayed about what to say and how to say it so people will understand and hear with their hearts and not just their minds. How would he have dealt with any feelings of not being heard? Prayer.

In truth, I sense when people are listening intently and paying attention, because action is often taken on what's being said, no matter who is doing the speaking. Even if that action manifests a little at a time, they're still attempting to follow-up on what was said. If no action ensues, I either wonder if they're still trying to digest it, or they don't give a fig about anything other than themselves. Or they're so darn wounded that they don't have the confidence to take any action at all. And that's where one has to start from absolute square one--which is what Fred Rogers did a lot, I have a feeling. Sometimes absolute square one is the best place to start for a lot of healing things, emotionally speaking.

He would say things to that wounded person like, "I'm proud of you, and I like you, even if other people seem to do the opposite." To paraphrase the old Wild West movie phrase, "Them's healin' words!" Is it any wonder this man continues to be revered by so many, even eleven years after his passing?

There's an inner drive, an inner push to help people heal, that bubbles within every time I see someone upset. Of course, there are people just so far gone--they have no real will to help themselves get past their own "Furies," as Mr. Rogers would call them--that I cannot do much of anything. So all I can do is pray, pray and pray...give it all over to Great Spirit and the angels, because they have ways of handling things that one sole human cannot quite do on their own.

Because, yeah, that's what I think Fred Rogers would do.

Peace In The Neighborhood To You,
Kat ^.^

P.S....I just came up with a fab way to create a gratitude journal!