A WORD FOR TODAY, May 23, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, May 23, 2025
“Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another. ‘Be angry, and don’t sin.’ Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, and don’t give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:25-32, WEB
A man was visiting an executive from the company for which he worked. He arrived at the home in a limousine, but when he discovered that the driver would have to wait in the car while he was visiting, the man insisted that the driver join them in the house. At the end of the evening, the man sat in front with the driver and when he learned that they were going to pass the driver’s house, the man insisted on meeting the driver’s family. The family was thrilled at the unexpected visit and the man entertained the family by leading a sing-a-long and telling them stories. The man was Fred Rogers, famed for his delightful children’s show “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” Fred Rogers was as kind in real life as he was on television.
If you do a little Internet research on Fred Rogers, you will discover that everyone wants to claim him for their own. They see a characteristic in his life that reminds him of their own world view, so they assume he must hold the same view. Yet, people who have a distinctly opposite world view also see characteristics that make him like them. Some claim he must be one thing, others claim that he could not possibly be. It may seem simplistic, but the best, and perhaps only, characteristic we should attribute to Mr. Rogers is kindness. It didn’t matter who you were, he loved you. Even when you did not agree with something he did or said, he loved you.
Love, and kindness, was so deeply embedded in his life that even his weight was a manifestation of it. The number 143 was his favorite, often referenced in his stories and conversations. He liked that number because it represents the phrase “I love you.” “I” is one letter, “love” is four letters and “you” is three letters. He was almost fanatical about keeping his body weight at 143. It may have been the ideal weight for his body type, and he kept to that weight in a very healthy manner. Yet, I suspect that he did it also to keep his own heart and mind on the true purpose of his life: to love others and to treat them with kindness.
Fred Rogers was once asked if he ever got angry. The questioner wanted to know if he ever lost control. She could not imagine him having a knock-down drag out with his wife. “Do you ever yell at her?” He answered that she should ask his wife but then admitted that he had a very modulated way of dealing with his feelings. He didn’t scream. He did not throw things. He never felt the need to manifest feelings of anger. Notice he doesn’t deny having those feelings. We all get angry sometimes. He simply learned how to deal with anger in a loving and kind way.
Today is 143 Day in Pennsylvania. Fred Rogers was a native son, having been born in Latrobe. The governor decided to honor him on the 143rd day of the year. It is meant to be a day when everyone remembers Mr. Rogers with love and kindness. Of course, the hope would be that it would not be limited to one day a year, but at least for today, Pennsylvania will be an especially lovely place to be today if everyone follows the directive.
As I looked for scripture for this special day, I found this verse from Ephesians about being kind to one another. I thought it was interesting, then, as I read the verse in context, to see that Paul also talks about anger. “Be angry. Do not sin.” Many of us consider anger itself a sin, yet it is a very real emotion that we all feel from time to time. Paul’s words do not tell us to never be angry; he tells us that when we are angry, we need to find a loving and kind way of dealing with it. We want to scream and throw things, but perhaps we need to learn to modulate the way we deal with our own feelings. This could be said about all our feelings. The life of faith is a life lived in love and kindness so that we will not express our feelings in a way that might harm others.
That verse comes from Psalm 4:4, “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent. Selah” (ESV) Check your heart. Anger can be a very positive emotion because it can lead us to do something to change the circumstances that make us angry. Jesus got angry, so Paul is not telling us that anger is a sin. Instead, he reminds us to modulate the way we deal with our anger. He quickly tells us to be kind to one another, to forgive as we have been forgiven. We may think the temperament of Mr. Rogers is unattainable, but our Christian faith calls us to a life of love and kindness. It is a way of life toward which we can and should strive.
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