Last night when Scott Claybrook spoke to our youth group, he reminisced about his childhood fondness for watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on PBS and his personal admiration for Fred Rogers. In particular, Scott referenced Mister Rogers' acceptance speech at the 1987 Daytime Emmy Awards. As he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award, Fred Rogers implored the audience, "Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are - those who have cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life?" What followed was ten seconds of silence, which Rogers monitored using his wristwatch. With an economy of words, Rogers moved the audience to tears.
I, too, was a childhood fan of Mister Rogers. Even when I was a teenager, sometimes when I arrived home from school I would still tune in to his show. There was something soothing about his voice, and the slow pace of the show helped me wind down. I particularly loved the segments about how things were made - the Picture Picture Factory Tours. In fact, several years ago when my family took a vacation to the Northeast and travelled through Pennsylvania, we visited the Crayola Crayon factory and the Martin Guitar factory just because I had seen them featured on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."
For years I have had a yellowed newspaper clipping about Fred Rogers taped to the computer desk in our home office. At this point I can't even remember when or where I found it, but it is as meaningful to me today as it was the first time I read it. "John Rogers said his father met Ralph Waldo Emerson's definition of success: 'To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children . . . to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.'"
That's exactly the kind of success I'm striving for.
No comments:
Post a Comment