‘A Beautiful Day ...’

In the beginning, I had no idea at all about Fred Rogers who was well-known as Mister Rogers. But while watching the 2019 film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” I began to appreciate every moment of his life: his childhood pains, compassionate perspectives, inspiring vision and gentle and tranquil attitude toward life.

Fred Rogers was a shy, introverted, musical and chubby kid, but he overcame his lonely and difficult childhood by playing at home alone with a puppet (a ventriloquist dummy) as well as stuffed animals.

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” is about the life and inspiring philosophy of the late Reverend Fred McFeely Rogers (1928-2003). “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is one of his favorite songs that he often sang during television shows. The lyrics are as follows:

“It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood.”

“A beautiful day for a neighbor!” “Would you be mine? Could you be mine?”

…

“Neighbors are people who are close to us.”

“And friends are people who are close to our hearts.”

“I like to think of you as my neighbor and my friend.”

Starting in 1968, a half-hour educational children’s program titled “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” lasted for 30 years with 895 episodes, which emphasized the importance of young children’s social and emotional needs through cognitive learning.

His communal sense of neighborhood is well explained in a true story that happened during the Special Olympics. Fred Rogers shared this story in his commencement speech at Middlebury College in 2001 as follows:

“There were nine physically and mentally disabled contestants to run together. They took off from the starting line, but one little boy stumbled and fell. He began to cry. As the other eight children heard him crying, they slowed down and turned around. Then, all the boys ran back to him. They linked their arms together and joyfully walked together to the finish line. They all finished at the same time.”

What a marvelous story it is! As an ordained Presbyterian minister, showrunner, producer, composer, actor, singer, puppeteer and creator, Fred Rogers ministered to children and their families through television. As a host of the preschool television series, he was wholly present to people. Every morning, he got up at 5 a.m. to pray for his family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. With the help of his constant and faithful prayers, he was kind, gentle, serene and composed throughout his life.

“Therefore, put on the armor of God … Stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13-17)