The Good Neighbor

Fred Rogers, followed the call to love your neighbor as your self. His example shaped my life in profound ways. Reading Maxwell King's book is helping me understand the impact of Rogers' ministry in my own life and vocation.

When I first moved to Waughtown I was afraid of my neighbors.  I overcame those fears in time by getting to know them.  One of the ways it happened was through friendships struck up while waiting at the bus stop. Over the intervening years of riding the bus, I came to realize how the bus brought us together. It brought us together though we were different in all the socio-economic variables that divide. These divisions also make us afraid of one another.

Winston-Salem, with its racial history, stark segregation, and income inequality needs ministers like Fred Rogers to help us understand how love casts out fear.   He was not afraid to love his neighbor and he worked to show the dignity that each of us possesses, just the way we are.

When he sings, "I always wanted to have a neighbor just like you" it is a beautiful message of unconditional love.  How can we see more of our neighbors from this perspective?