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As part of Vacation Bible School, we are singing lots of songs from Mister Rogers, including “What Do You Do With the Mad That You Feel”. Watch Mr. Rogers sing the song.
In Roger’s song about anger, he offers the possibilities of pounding clay, or playing all of the low notes on a piano at once, as ways we might help to manage our anger. He also suggests we might run as fast as we can to work out all of that emotion. He reminds us of our power to choose to not do harm with our anger, but to do something that makes us feel better without hurting anyone.
Rogers also talked with children about fear.
Once, Rogers went to visit Koko the gorilla who had learned American Sign Language, and who regularly watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. At one point, Koko wrapped him in her arms. She was a 280-pound gorilla and he was a 143-pound man. She even took off his shoes during their visit! That might have been a moment in which Rogers could have felt very afraid, but he received the embrace of Koko. Watch the Koko episode.
Rogers knew that we all feel afraid at times, even in the church. Fear in the church is understandable. We hear the words of Jeremiah 29:11, words about God’s hopeful future for God’s people, but we wonder sometimes if that future is really there. We have so many big worries about the world, and about our own lives.
But fear can sometimes tempt us to try to fix things in ways that in the long-run are not wise. Rogers, for example, might have panicked in fear over Koko’s embrace and tried to bat her arms away. That may not have gone well. Instead, he trusted her and her caregiver and God in that moment.
Most of us will not have such an experience as Rogers did. But all of us – at one point or another – feel afraid. Afraid of our future. Afraid of change. Afraid of what’s ahead for our churches.
When we feel afraid about our future, we might take time to talk to a neighbor or friend about our fear, or read some of the Psalms, or take a walk in nature to reconnect with the glory of God’s beautiful creation, or tell God in our prayers that we are afraid. When we feel afraid, we can trust in God’s good news for us in Christ Jesus. In Jesus Christ, we are already loved and held just as we are.
Wherever you find yourself this day, I pray that you feel rest and trust in God, and comfort in Christ Jesus, as the Presbytery of the Miami Valley lives with hope into the future God holds for us.
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