So, this is obviously a man that needs no introduction.

Furthermore, this is a man that spoke more eloquently than I do; so I will save you from trying to give my own voice to his deep philosophy of love, acceptance, peace and justice, and let him speak for himself.

The guiding philosophy of Mr. Rogers:

• We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say “It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.” Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.

• When I say ‘it’s you I like’, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.

• Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.

• If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.

• You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.

• Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other’s achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.

• The thing I remember best about successful people I’ve met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they’re doing and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they’re doing, and they love it in front of others.

• It’s very dramatic when two people come together to work something out. It’s easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect each other.

• It’s not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It’s the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our very being is good stuff.

• In the external scheme of things, shining moments are as brief as the twinkling of an eye, yet such twinklings are what eternity is made of — moments when we human beings can say “I love you,” “I’m proud of you,” “I forgive you,” “I’m grateful for you.” That’s what eternity is made of: invisible imperishable good stuff.

Growing ideas in the garden of your mind

We’re all on a journey, each one of us. And if we can be sensitive to the person who happens to be our neighbor, that to me is the greatest challenges as well as the greatest pleasure. Because if you are trusted, then people will  share their inner garden with you…what greater gift?

Please enjoy this amazing autotune music video of Mr. Rogers. Guaranteed to make you smile and tear up.

Some amazing Mr. Rogers facts

• His core message: ‘accept everyone for who they are.’

• He was a Presbyterian minister, yet never taught dogmas or advocated Christianity over any other religion on his show.

• His inspiration for working in television: ‘why in the world couldn’t we use this thing called television for the broadcasting of grace through the land?’

• His morning routine: waking up at 5 a.m.; praying for a few hours for all of his friends and family; studying; writing, making calls and reaching out to every fan who took the time to write him; and going for a morning swim.

• He was a vegetarian.

• He did 7 of the puppet foices on the show, and composed all of the songs on the show (over 200)

• When public television funding was going to be cut in 1969, Mr. Rogers gave testimony on how TV had the potential to give kids hope and create more productive citizens. Instead of being cut, funding rose from $9 to $22 million.

• The famous sweaters he wore on the show? Knitted by his mother, every one.

The Mr. Rogers in all of us

I hope you enjoyed this article and video; I hope you found inspiration to deepen your own journey of love, peace, justice and personal empowerment.

And more than anything, I hope you found that pure Mr. Rogers quality inside yourself =)

Take care neighbor,
Eka, aka SuperSpark

Mr. Rogers Wiki

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