Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was the first program I watched regularly. I remember crying at the end of an episode at the age of four years old when he said, "See you next week." I couldn't wait another week to see Mr. Rogers! Fortunately, he was always on the very next day. I loved him probably just as much as my own parents.
Of course, once I'd grown out of the Sesame Street phase of life, I scorned Mr. Rogers and the legion of public broadcasting. He was so lame, in his sweater and shoes (although I loved watching him change into them as a small child), and I would laugh at the various parodies that cropped up over the years. As I grew into adulthood, I began to have a new appreciation for him, especially when I realized he was still on television talking to children in that patient voice of his. I think I cried when he died.
Until I watched the documentary on him yesterday, Won't You Be My Neighbor, I hadn't realized how much of an influence he had on me. So much that it would be accurate to state that I wouldn't be the person I was today without him.
During the documentary I sat, nodding, as he stated that he thinks the most bad, evil people in the world are the ones who deliberately make others feel less worthy. I thought, Yes! That's exactly how I feel. I have never understood people who try to bash others and destroy their dreams. So much negativity, when you could be positive and encouraging. People who choose to spread darkness and mayhem when they could just as easily do the opposite.
It was only on the drive home that I realized, of course I felt the same way he did about so many subjects.
I'd been watching him since possibly before I could talk, from my high chair. All those high, lofty ideals I hold, have held all my life, that I feel is the core of my humanity, what makes me a good person, all of them, didn't come from me. I didn't come up with them, as I'd always thought. No, I got them from him. He taught me how to be a good person.
It was astounding that one man had so much influence. That despite being just a man on a television program, he spoke to each and every one of us. That he saw all of us, with our flaws, and accepted us for not who we are, but who we have the potential to become.
We spend so much time as a society trying to cut people down and destroy them. We glorify in it. And if we can't tear them down, like we did Bill Cobsy, we forget about them, almost as if they're not worth remembering if we can't find their flaws. Mr. Rogers is worth remembering. Mr. Rogers was a good man. In a world where our children are being given so many bad examples, his virtue shines through. He wanted to be everyone's neighbor. He thought God didn't make mistakes and you are how He made you. He accepted everyone, tolerated difference. He may have been God himself, sent to live among us. Next time I feel angry, or frustrated, or tempted to lash out, I'm going to remember Mr. Rogers. If he could remain so patient, so loving, and so influential, so can I. So can we all.
Of course, once I'd grown out of the Sesame Street phase of life, I scorned Mr. Rogers and the legion of public broadcasting. He was so lame, in his sweater and shoes (although I loved watching him change into them as a small child), and I would laugh at the various parodies that cropped up over the years. As I grew into adulthood, I began to have a new appreciation for him, especially when I realized he was still on television talking to children in that patient voice of his. I think I cried when he died.
Until I watched the documentary on him yesterday, Won't You Be My Neighbor, I hadn't realized how much of an influence he had on me. So much that it would be accurate to state that I wouldn't be the person I was today without him.
During the documentary I sat, nodding, as he stated that he thinks the most bad, evil people in the world are the ones who deliberately make others feel less worthy. I thought, Yes! That's exactly how I feel. I have never understood people who try to bash others and destroy their dreams. So much negativity, when you could be positive and encouraging. People who choose to spread darkness and mayhem when they could just as easily do the opposite.
It was only on the drive home that I realized, of course I felt the same way he did about so many subjects.
I'd been watching him since possibly before I could talk, from my high chair. All those high, lofty ideals I hold, have held all my life, that I feel is the core of my humanity, what makes me a good person, all of them, didn't come from me. I didn't come up with them, as I'd always thought. No, I got them from him. He taught me how to be a good person.
It was astounding that one man had so much influence. That despite being just a man on a television program, he spoke to each and every one of us. That he saw all of us, with our flaws, and accepted us for not who we are, but who we have the potential to become.
We spend so much time as a society trying to cut people down and destroy them. We glorify in it. And if we can't tear them down, like we did Bill Cobsy, we forget about them, almost as if they're not worth remembering if we can't find their flaws. Mr. Rogers is worth remembering. Mr. Rogers was a good man. In a world where our children are being given so many bad examples, his virtue shines through. He wanted to be everyone's neighbor. He thought God didn't make mistakes and you are how He made you. He accepted everyone, tolerated difference. He may have been God himself, sent to live among us. Next time I feel angry, or frustrated, or tempted to lash out, I'm going to remember Mr. Rogers. If he could remain so patient, so loving, and so influential, so can I. So can we all.
Comments
Post a Comment