Christmas in the Neighborhood

The world sure could use a little more Mister Rogers these days.

This was essentially the sentiment one of our church staff members shared right after he had rewatched the 2019 movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which starred Tom Hanks in the role of the man himself.

It was the fall of 2025. In the six years since the movie had come out, the nation had experienced a worrisome rise in violence and vitriol. Assassination attempts on political opponents. Attacks on worshipers in their sanctuaries and on teachers and students in their schools. Venomous posts were exchanged on social media.

But it was in the midst of this cultural milieu that one of the scenes in that movie stood out to our colleague. Mister Rogers' journalist friend is upset over some of his challenging family dynamics, and Mister Rogers tells him, "There is always something you can do with the mad that you feel."

Our colleague reflected that "what we are sadly witnessing, too often, is that people are choosing to do bad things with the mad that they feel." He went on to say that he prayed that night if only we would "be more like Mister Rogers - attentive, compassionate, a seeker, a friend, a neighbor."

In other words, the world sure could use a little more Mister Rogers these days.