Beautiful Neighborhoods

Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people. ~ Fred Rogers

When my twin sister visited before Christmas, the punk weather had us running between rain drops. Finally, on the third, and last day of her visit, we decided we’d go to the movies to see It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. After all we reasoned, a movie about Mr. Rogers is guaranteed to be uplifting. It’s always sunny in Mr. Rogers world!

It was evident Tom Hanks, who played the part of Fred Rogers, spent a great deal of time with character study prior to playing the part of a supremely soft-hearted man. Fred Rogers, Dartmouth graduate, Presbyterian minister and husband was like a father figure to several generations of children.  Throughout his career he gently broadcast moral values to children through the medium of television. 

The movie was not particularly bright and sunny as either I or my twin sister expected but that did not mean it was not a valuable film – quite to the contrary. Not to be a spoiler, I will generalize by saying the movie offers a realistic view of life and it is not always pretty.  By the end of the movie, there were some sunny rewards.  For the audience, it took a little wading through the muddied waters of relationships to realize beneficial life lessons communicated through the narrative.

In the New Year, taking individual responsibility to mend fences in our own families and relationships is a great starting point to building more beautiful neighborhoods and communities. What can you do to help?

In my neck of the woods at the United Methodist Church I’ve been regularly attending, a four week series of sermons based the new movie about Fred Rogers has kicked off in this New Year. I’ll hope to share more with our readers about what I absorb in future blogs on SowtheHeart.com.

Remember to always spread love, compassion and good news through social media.