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An ordained
Presbyterian minister with a doctorate in child development,
Mister Fred McFeely Rogers dedicated his life to ministering
to children, though he never once mentioned God on his television
show Mister Roger's Neighborhood in the 30 years it
was on the air. Amy Hollingworth's book The Simple Faith
of Mister Rogers started out as an interview for The
700 Club aimed solely at getting the American icon to
talk publicly about his faith to the media, which he had only
done once before. Rogers had always been wary to speak on
his faith, as he didn't want what he said twisted in any way,
nor did he want any of his non-religious fans to feel excluded
if he used words or terminology to which they were unexposed
in their lives. It seems odd that an ordained minister with
the goal of outreach to children never spoke about his beliefs,
but as NBC Nightly News explained, after Rogers's death,
"the real Mister Rogers never preached, [or] even mentioned
God. He never had to." Rogers exuded a deep spirituality and
faith that never really needed to be put into words, and Hollingsworth's
book goes a long way to revealing that.
However,
it is a difficult thing to recommend The Simple Faith of
Mister Rogers. On one hand, Hollingsworth's writing is
serviceable at best, and it often feels like a fair-to-middling
church sermon. But every word out of Fred Rogers's mouth—of
which this book obviously contains a good deal—is a treasure,
even for those who may not be religiously inclined. Rogers
displayed a pervasive Zen-like calm, expressed gratitude for
everything in his life, and truly seemed to live with such
a wealth of love in his heart that one can't help but be touched
by a sincerity and compassion that is often lacking in mainstream
Christianity. While Hollingsworth's 700 Club was under
fire for comments regarding the LGBT community, one of Mister
Roger's core tenants was that he genuinely loved everyone
just the way they were and valued the sacredness of all life
(which includes his vegetarian stance). The book, while nothing
of spectacular value on its own, is immensely worth reading
simply as a book that delivers the heart-touching sentiments
of an amazing human being.
Those
sentiments are so life-affirming that it's difficult not to
want to strive to be a better person after reading them. Early
in the book, Rogers reflects on a life-changing moment while
he was in seminary in an instance where he was "judgmental."
After hearing a really poor sermon, Rogers thought about what
a waste of time it had been when he looked over at a fellow
student who was crying, who explained that the sermon was
"exactly what [she] needed to hear." That one moment of being
judgmental still haunted him years later is a testament to
the positivity in which he lived his life, especially given
that the average person (this reviewer, for instance) is judgmental
about 30 times before he or she gets out of bed on any given
day.
While
the book is constructed as just another volume to chew up
shelf space between Left Behind novels, Fred Rogers's
deep spirituality, complete genuineness (he is the
man you've seen on TV), and life-long commitment to the healthy
growth and education of children makes the book's content
much more valuable than its container. Anyone of a Christian
faith will find Rogers's beautiful faith reinvigorating, and
even those of different religious—or perhaps irreligious—backgrounds
will likely take away much from his overwhelming sincerity
and kindness, which could handedly be summed up with the following
exchange:
If
you had one final broadcast, one final opportunity to
address your television neighbors, and you could tell
them the single most important lesson of your life, what
would you say?
Well, I would want [those] who were listening somehow
to know that they had unique value, that there isn't anybody
in the whole world exactly like them and that there never
has been and there never will be.
And that they are loved by the Person who created them,
in a unique way.
If they could know that and really know it and have that
behind their eyes, they could look with those eyes on
their neighbor and realize, "My neighbor has unique value
too; there's never been anybody in the whole world like
my neighbor, and there never will be." If they could value
that person—if they could love that person—in
ways that we know that the Eternal loves us, then I would
be very grateful.
If there
were more people in the world even with one-tenth the unique
value of Mister Rogers, then this reviewer would be very grateful,
too.
(July
2009)
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