One Small Voice: I nominate Fred Rogers for sainthood

by Lynn Mandaville

I’m not one to get excited about the canonization of saints. But my religious background is not in Catholicism, so I don’t really have an appreciation for that tradition or religious heritage.

That being said, I do believe it is well and good to recognize the incredible, selfless works of human beings like Francis of Assisi and Mother Theresa. Even without the Pope conferring sainthood upon them, these are incredible people who stand the test of time and political whims, to stand before us as paragons of virtue, even in their humanness.  

I’m not sure why the Catholic church needs to put people such as these through the scrutiny of verified miracles and other qualifications, just to proclaim that certain people ought to be elevated to an arbitrary level of ultimate goodness, human-kindness, and, yes, even godliness. To me, it’s the equivalent of declaring one actor or actress or film as more deserving of the Oscar prize above a slew of other, equally excellent high achievers.

But maybe that’s neither here nor there.

I’ve known several pastors in my time who have made reference to the saints among us. What I took from their proclamations was that if you look carefully around you, you will see in everyday circumstances, the godly works of multitudes of people.  

You might see people who grow hundreds of pumpkins every year, year after year, which they sell at the roadside in the fall for Halloween jack-o-lanterns or for pumpkin pies, and then donate the many  thousands of dollars they earn to UNICEF, even though they eke out for themselves only a modest living from the other crops they sell.

Perhaps you will notice a retired school teacher who, in his own golden years, spends his days, and his own money for gas, driving less able people to their doctor appointments or chemo treatments, or to a food distribution center.

Maybe she is a working nurse who, in her off hours, spends time in the neonatal ICU simply sitting and rocking the preemies or the babies born to drug addicted mothers.

It could even be a child or group of children operating a lemonade stand to raise money to help with the medical bills of a schoolmate with cancer

If you really take the time, and pay attention for the clues, your days will be brightened by the inherent goodness that is all around us.

I bring this up, because I’ve become aware of a documentary that has been produced about Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Called “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” it’s available at select theaters around the country.  I’ve not yet seen it, but I can imagine how it will pull at my heart strings when I do.

Fred was a Presbyterian minister in Pittsburgh, Pa. He had a small, local television show with which he reached out to teach children the concepts of peace, brotherhood and acceptance, while also instructing children how to deal with anger and grief, or the trials and tribulations of childhood like bullying, divorce, death and controversy.

He did it through skits, song and puppetry, all written and performed by himself and a few friends. And it was so influential that it eventually became a mainstay of Public Television. It didn’t have high production value. It was understated and unsophisticated. But the messages were pure and true, and Fred was able to reach and comfort not only children, but their parents as well.

I was so enamored of Fred Rogers that when he died I cried and said to my husband, “There goes Saint Fred to meet with his God.” And I knew that we on earth would be poorer for his leaving.

I believe that if there is a heaven, and if Fred is up there watching the world unfold beneath him, he is very sad not to be still among us to share his insightful, gentle teaching with us mortals. For he had a simple philosophy, very Christ-like in its simplicity. The Golden Rule, in fact. Act toward others the way in which you would like them to act toward you. Or, in just a few of what you can read it in countless other religious literature:

• Tamil tradition: “Do not do to others what you know has hurt yourself.”

• Judaism: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

• Islam: “As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don’t do to them.”

• Ellen (DeGeneres): “Be kind to one another.”

I can imagine Mr. Rogers sitting among world leaders and saying something like, “Here is how life can work successfully. I teach it to children, and they get it. Now why can’t you? Here, let me help.”

I know, naive, rose-colored glasses, Pollyanna thinking. But that’s my fantasy. A world in which the teachings of Mr. Rogers work where organized religions haven’t.

If you aren’t familiar with Fred Rogers and his teachings, do yourself a favor and make yourself familiar. If you already know him, or are a long-time fan, reacquaint yourself.

For a quiet, unassuming, gentle man, Fred Rogers was one hell of a guy.

If I did go in for the canonization of saints, I would declare Saint Fred to be top of my list.