It is said that the longer you stay at the top, the more it shows the depth of your talent. Whether it is in music, sports, business, or even in acting, the longer your success is sustained, the more it speaks to your ability to reach the public or perform at a high level that seemingly makes you irreplaceable. Fred Rogers was that type of man in our society and since his death, we have to come to grips with the fact that there will never be another like him.

Mister Rogers, as he was known as on television, had the longest running program on PBS to this day. The series kicked off in 1968 and did not conclude until he retired in 2000, with the final new episodes still airing into 2001. Longevity is something that Mister Rogers had more than most any other television personality that we know and his faith was the key to that longevity. He lived on morals and principles, passing on his knowledge to a segment of the population that we overlook many times. The fact is, we all grew up with him.

His Life

Fred Rogers grew up in Latrobe Pennsylvania and developed his love for puppets through the time spent with his grandfather. He would later go on to college and receive his B.A. degree in music composition from Rollins College. He also studied theology on his lunch breaks and would later be ordained as a Presbyterian minister. The puppetry learned from his grandfather and the music composition learned in college would be the beginnings of something that would change the face of America for a portion of five different decades. The theology would mold his life and direct the focus of his work for the Lord. God had begun to bring out his talents and would show Mr. Rogers how to use them for His glory.

Mr. Rogers began with a fifteen minute segment on a Canadian television station but would eventually move to Pittsburg and moved to the PBS network. His shows taught children incredible values as well as discussed tough issues on the level that children could understand what he was talking about. Some of the tougher issues that he tackled were divorce, death, and even war. He used music to teach lessons and would always wear his cardigan and tennis shoes on the show. He also used the puppets in the “Land of Make Believe� to teach lessons and values to the children who were watching at home. He pushed for a larger budget for PBS and made it happen. His life revolved around education and personal development of anyone who tuned in.

Mr. Rogers passed away in 2003, succumbing to stomach cancer. He left a legacy that all of us can envy and do our best to emulate with our God-given talents, using them to the fullest everyday and making a difference.

What Can We Learn From His Life
Some of you are questioning why I would even consider writing a piece on Mr. Rogers, but if the truth be told, you were probably impacted by him at some point in your life, whether it was a direct impact from watching the show or an indirect impact as your children have watched the show. Inevitably, ninety percent can say that this man had some type of effect on them, myself included.

Mr. Rogers reached out to children, something that is lacking terribly in men today. As we look at the children’s ministries in our churches, most are predominately filled with female helpers but they struggle to get any men to help them. When we look at the homes in America today, most of the children are raised primarily by the mothers as the fathers are too busy with other things to raise children. Fathers have left it all to the mothers and the mothers are looking for help.

We see that Mr. Rogers saw the importance of instilling good moral values and principles in children, rather than leaving it until later in life to teach them. Each time I think of Mr. Rogers, my mind races back to Jesus commanded the disciples to allow the children to come unto Him. Though they had tried to hold the children back, away from Jesus, Jesus still had time for the children and taught about the importance of children as well as child-like faith.

We wonder what has gone wrong with children today as we see the drug use, school shootings, rise in gangs even in the rural areas of the world, and the alarming numbers of teenage pregnancies, but we really only have to look to one place to see where it has gone wrong. Men have neglected the children and it is as much our job to raise them as it is the woman’s job. Furthermore, as we learn from Mr. Rogers, the children that we have to help are not only the ones in our households but every child that we can possibly reach. By doing this, we will change the world, one child at a time.

Mr. Rogers never endorsed products for his own gain nor did you ever see an interview where he praised himself or listed all of the things that he had done. Rather, he stuck to his convictions and his calling, all the while changing children all over the world, teaching them things that would take them farther in life than money could ever take them. If we can stop trying to buy our children everything and stop trying to own everything ourselves, we can free up the time needed to be a Mr. Rogers to the children in our area, and in turn, act like Christ by accepting them, loving them, and teaching them.

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