16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:16-17
Dear God, I’ve been reading a biography on Fred Rogers (a.k.a. Mr. Rogers), and the portrait it paints is quite lovely. What a unique man! I mean, really, you just don’t find people like him–even among the most devoted of Christians. I’ve maybe known one personally. His name was Henry Parrish. He was a simple tennis coach from Corpus Christi who exuded your gentleness, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. Exuded it. That was Fred Rogers too. My Henry probably talked more about his faith publicly than did Mr. Rogers, but Mr. Rogers was also in a much more secular environment than Henry was. I would venture that Henry was maybe more circumspect about his faith when he was teaching in the public school. But you just couldn’t stop your presence from shining through him.
I wonder what the barrier is between the level of faith they reached and where I am. Is it as simple as personality? Were their personalities more suited for that kind of display of your Spirit present in their lives than mine is? Or did they have something deeper with you that I am missing?
I have some challenges in my life. How would they have dealt with them differently than I’m dealing with them? How did Mr. Rogers handle friction among co-workers on the set of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood? I know it had to happen. Did he have a producer who handled things like that, or did he get in there directly and address it? Did he exude so much patience that it just fed the whole place? I’ve heard the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” I can’t even figure out “What would Mr. Rogers do?” I think the answers are very similar.
I guess I can try to think back on times when the disciples got crossways with each other, usually involved around egos and grasping for power. In those times, he would warn them about seeking power. Other times, he seemingly did nothing. You get the feeling reading about Judas and the way the gospels describe him that no one really liked him. They knew he was stealing (John 12:6). Jesus knew Judas was stealing. And yet Jesus seemingly didn’t address it at all. And it festered. Do things sometimes need to fester?
Father, as I go through this day, I want to exude you. I want to exude your fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I want to not use power over anyone, but simply pray, serve, persuade, and sacrifice for those around me. I want the joy I’ve found in you to be their joy too. I want them to experience the act of receiving your forgiveness and then granting it to others. I want them to deal with the log in their own eye before they feel the need to address the speck in their brother’s eye. But all of that starts with me. I have to absolutely be your presence in all of this. Live through me.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 