"It's a beautiful day the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor! Would you be mine? Could you be mine?" So sang Mister Rogers (Fred M. Rogers) on his daily TV program for children over a long career. His calm manner, gentle friendliness and imaginative characters were a staple for growing kids for forty years.
Today is a beautiful day in my neighborhood. The sun is bright, the air crisp, springtime is in full bloom. The thing about Mister Rogers, though, was that every day was a beautiful day in his neighborhood. What a concept! And every day was an opportunity to be a neighbor, to make a friend. Some remember that the late Mister Rogers was also a Presbyterian minister. His faith sharing was neighborliness. Providing a safe place (emotionally and physically) for children is about as high a calling as one can have. That's the gospel in action.
In his recent doctoral dissertation my friend Tom Sanders wrote of incarnational evangelism. That's what he means. Being who God has enabled you to be -- like neighborly Fred Rogers.
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