The Faith of Mr. Rogers, Week 1

This year I've been going through a new book, "The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers." Written by Amy Hollingsworth, a minister and friend of Fred Rogers, it chronicles nine simple lessons she learned about faith from him. I've read it through a couple times, and have been looking at it with my Sunday School Group. Over the next few weeks, I'll be offering short reflections on what I've learned from each segment.

The book is divided into "Toast Sticks," a nod to a treat a young Fred enjoyed, and one that first conveyed deep meaning in his life. The first three are about things to help your soul, the second three about the way you see the world, and the final three about putting that into practice.

This first Toast Stick is about "The Importance of Taking Time; The Importance of Silence." Fred once said, "for me, being quiet and slow is being myself, and that is my gift." Among the gifts he shared through his show was the idea that it is important to be true to yourself. And for Fred Rogers, quiet introspection was his truest self.

As someone who's always been fine spending time in the life of the mind in quiet solitude, I appreciate that. It doesn't seem to be the way of the world. In fact, there are times where I'm quiet sure I could spend days by myself and be fine. But that's not healthy, either. But thinking about this chapter gave me something of an appreciation for the need for quiet time for reflection.

Another big piece of this is taking time for silence. Most of our lives are fast paced and scheduled. We cram as much as we can into every moment of every day. But Mr. Rogers loved to ask people to take a minute and allow the silence to wash over them. That is something that was even a part of the movie "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."

As a society, we're often uncomfortable with silence. In fact, some can't sit through silence at all. When Kobe Bryant died, the Lakers sought to honor him and his daughter during their first game after his death. They asked for the crowd to take 24.2 seconds of silence. Just over 24 seconds. Seems easy. But as it began, I realized how long it can feel when you're waiting in silence. And yet, God speaks to us when we quiet our hearts and minds and allow Him a chance to come in. And that requires quiet and silence.

I have been trying to remember to have that time for quiet reflection in my week since reading this. Quiet and silence is a discipline, one that Fred Rogers practiced every day. It's hard, and it feels like it runs contrary to our contemporary culture. But it aligns with our faith.

"It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Lamentations 3:26) Waiting on the Lord, quietly and in silence, is good. Even Jesus, during his ministry, stole a few moments of quiet on His own whenever He could. It's the model for us, and it was modeled by Mr. Rogers in his life as well. It's hard but it's worthwhile.