Mr. Rogers has been on my mind though I was never a particular fan. Perhaps because of the new movie with Tom Hanks which has been promoted heavily. For whatever reason I found myself heading out on my own to a theater well over an hour away to see "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." And then I kept hearing his voice, feeling his presence, so I thought to ask:
Ann: Mister Rogers, am I correct in thinking that you want to speak with me?
Mister Rogers: Yes, I have been at your elbow for some little time now. And call me Fred. There is nothing hierarchical in the relationship of soul to soul, and that is what we have here.
Ann: How do you mean?
Fred: You are in one place seeking Spirit and I am in another seeking to further refine my understanding and commitment holy order, to watch with you for the signs and signals along the way that tell us we are walking in the right direction. You have only recently been drawn to me. Do you have any idea why that is?
A: Not a clue. Perhaps valuing kindness more – though it was always a surprise and most highly prized one my earlier years. Still today, come to think of it.
F: Yes, and you are always looking for the time when the debt will be called in. I think that is why you are drawn to the new movie with Tom Hanks. Wasn’t he just marvelous? He took the core idea of kindness, and offered it not only to children but to everyone he met embodied in my likeness. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to him for his care, his study, his attention to detail, but mostly for his heart, for that is how we connected.
A: Did he channel you?
F: Not as we are doing now, but, yes, and we changed each other irrevocably, I for him and him to me. Both of us became rounder. That sounds silly, doesn’t it? And he would smile to hear me say that because his “roundness” he felt was somewhat of an impediment to our joint project, but it was not. For though the movie had my name on it, it was Tom Hanks’s soul that gave it vision, fullness, and completion. Matthew too was wonderful in actualizing the transformation that takes place when we slow down and realize that all we have is each other, that we are all the same, and that it is very interesting for each of us to get to know the other.
A: Why have you come to me, for this blog?
F: Well it may seem that I have come to talk to people who read your blog, and I am happy to be doing that, but really, Ann, I have come to see you. You received a gift from Tom and myself, from all those who had a part in putting that move together when you heard me say to “Lloyd, “I don’t think you’re broken.”
And just when you were assuming that you knew what broken is and how you fit into that concept! It must have been quite the shock to you because, Ann, I don’t think you are broken either. Broken is rigid, deaf, and blind to the world around you, to the needs of others, to the nuances of the voice of each person who has your attention. In those ways you are not broken. You may think of “breaking” when you can no longer continue on in the road that you have been travelling, but that is when healing begins.
A: Are we ever healed?
F: Of course not. (Smiling). Then we would be God.
A: What is God like?
F: Oh my. Words cannot express the love, the love, the love that is given to each of us when we return home from our hero’s journey. And yes, each of us is a hero. We come in blind and deaf to our previous experience and are asked to create out of whole cloth a temple in which Jesus can feel at home.
And Jesus is not as particular as you might think. He loves us. He loves our trying, he loves us when we fail, and he loves us whether we get up and try again or not. He admires each and every one of us dealing with what comes our way each day. He knows it is not easy, and his admiration and love for us in taking on the challenges of this world is unbounded. He will never forsake us no matter how steep the climb may be or how far we may feel we have fallen. He is with us. He is in us. He is each one of us as a different vibration and angle of light.
So, no, Ann, I don’t think you are broken, and neither are your readers. We are moving together to explore the challenges that we have undertaken and to experience whatever may arise on our journey.
We will talk again. It is so good to get to know you and each and every one of your readers who might recognize themselves in these words. Can you feel the atmosphere about your heads expanding? I can.
December 31, 2019