What would Mr. Rogers Do? (WWMr.RD?)

Perhaps my brothers and sisters in the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
need a dose of good ole Mr. Rogers.

After all...
he was one of us.
A Presbyterian Minister...
with heart,
wisdom,
and an audience.

Perhaps you were one
who called him names:
Wimp.
Insignificant.
Pansy?

Perhaps you were one
who heard his words
and knew you were
loved.

Either way...
his words live on.

Either way...
those who say it is impossible
for us to remain in the same
church because we
think differently,
feel differently,
believe differently...
the time has come
for us to sit in
Mr. Rogers
neighborhood again
and listen to his
kind and gentle voice:

"Listening is where love begins:
listening to ourselves and then
to our neighbors."

"The purpose of life is to listen -
to yourself, to your neighbor,
to your world and to God and,
when the time comes, to
respond in as helpful a way
as you can find...
from within and without."

Why are we so opposed to
listening to each other?

Are we afraid of what we might
discover in ourselves?

Speak to us again
Mr Rogers:

"One of the greatest paradoxes
about omnipotence is that we
need to feel it early in life,
and lose it early in life,
in order to achieve a
healthy,
realistic,
yet exciting,
sense of
potency later on."

It seems some have not
lost their desire for
omnipotence....
which has wounded
our church,
torn apart relationships,
and festers
perspectives.

Mr. Rogers showed us
the way with his words
and his song:

"I have always wanted to have a neighbor
Just like you!
I've always wanted to live in a
Neighborhood with you.
So let's make the most of this beautiful day;
Sinse we're together we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?

It's bibilical...
to listen,
to live together
despite our differences.

It's biblical.