You And Me And Mr. Rogers

                 "You are the light of the world."   ...  Matthew 5:14



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Mornings, my local retro music station DJ's, Gail and Tom, ask fun Facebook questions. Today's? --


For Christmas, do you prefer a real tree or an artificial one?


"Hey, I'll play along this time," I thought. "Maybe they'll even read mine aloud."

So I went to Facebook and wrote:


"We have a 3-foot-tall artificial tree with lights which we keep in our basement covered by a plastic bag. When Christmas time comes, I bring it upstairs and place it in our dining room's bay window, plug it in, and poof! Instant Christmas."  😊


Minutes later, Gail read a couple comments and then said, "Oh, and I love Debra's response." She and Tom chuckled as she read, then Gail said this reminded her of her mother. And for whatever reason, that made me feel like June Cleaver. (Gail is probably around my age.) Oh, and she and Tom agreed probably lots of people do that tree-in-the-basement thing.

So cool! And what a delight that maybe? Maybe a few hundred people paused and smiled on this grey morning simply because of my silly little true story.

And in Today's dark, arguing world--I'll take it. I'll take writing or doing something so simple to lift peoples' spirits, even for one moment.

Which reminds me --

Have you watched the Mr. Rogers documentary? Wow, Fred Rogers was complex--who knew? And neither had I realized his show covered some pretty hairy 'grown-up topics'. (Naomi only sometimes switched on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Not a rabid fan, she.) 

But a portion of that documentary resonated with me; See, one interviewee said Mr. Rogers believed, as he aged, that adults didn't take him seriously. They didn't get him or the depth of his show.  

It was like (I further mused) they only saw the puppets, the children and that tiny trolley circling paper mache mountains, but not the deeper truths. Not what could have helped them grow-up into the fine folks their children were becoming.

And truthfully, in this blog, God has me writing so simply about what I feel are life-changing topics. I understand the 'not taken seriously' part.

But anyway, many adults misunderstood Mr. Rogers, they didn't pause long enough to listen. Oh, the newspaper headlines which accused him of saying things he never said nor meant.

And at one point, Mr. Rogers, in this documentary, looks into the camera and says something like, "Making others feel small and valueless is one of the greatest evils."

He did quit a couple times. 

The pressure, the bad press, the being misunderstood and undervalued by adults got to him (as it would anyone). But he always came back. Even after officially ending the show, he returned for a special episode to help children (and all of us) cope with 9/11.

Really, I find that all fascinating. 

But to end this-- Mr. Rogers had to, well, be Mr. Rogers. He couldn't do his show, his life, all differently. Well yes, technically I suppose he could have. But then, He'd have jumped out of God's plan for him and cheated us all.

And honey, you just don't want to leap into God's plan for someone else. It's too much like, for decades, wearing too-small clothes and living where God never intended to place you.

So today I say:


Make up your mind to accept God's plan for you. 
It's impossible to find a better plan. So don't waste time trying.
Find the adventure in that plan (it's there, somewhere!).
If the plan turns boring, fix it. Get back on track.
If the plan becomes scary, step closer to God.


And never, ever let anyone make you feel God chose a small, insignificant plan for you. That's impossible, also.

The people you're meant to help will get it. They'll understand. They'll need what God gives through you and both of you will help them through the maze of this crazy, crazy world.

And that is invaluable, indeed.

When God asks you to do something, even for years and years, just do it. Joyfully, creatively, bravely, not entertaining the quitting thoughts, but rather, the ones about glorious, eternal rewards.



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Truly, I recommend the Mr. Rogers documentary. I watched it at Amazon. View the trailer here.

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"Walk ... with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." ... Ephesians 4:2