The First Day of Class
When I walk into the large, square classroom on the first day, it’s already packed with students and energy. My students spontaneously erupt into applause. The class meets on the first day of this fall semester and about a third of our master’s students are in this room. They are clearly excited to see each other and begin the semester. We add some chairs at the tables and joke that everyone is welcomed in the neighborhood.
“The only appropriate way to begin a class entitled ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ is with Mister Rogers,” I announce.
We lower the lights and enter the world of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood through the projector screen at the front of the room. He walks into his television house, all mild-mannered and happy to see us. He assures us in song that it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. He changes into his homemade sweater and sneakers. Class members smile and settle in for today’s lesson. I tell them later that I wish I could measure their heart rate and blood pressure both before and during the episode. Many of us find his presence calming and the pace of the show meditative.
I had chosen the episode from the DVD collection I recently bought both because it was from my childhood – 1986 – and because it displayed the charming and wise aspects of the neighborhood.
In this episode, Mister Rogers uses a broken toy trumpet to talk about how it feels when things don’t work. We are given permission to feel disappointed and sad. We are encouraged to think about fixing things, which can be a constructive action, but we learn that not all things can be fixed. I will joke later that these opening minutes of the show are equivalent to months of therapy. Mister Rogers is talking about a damaged toy, but I’m thinking about the brokenness in my own life and our society. Mr. McFeely – Speedy Delivery! – visits a factory to see how trumpets are made. In the Neighborhood of Make Believe, King Friday wants to celebrate his comet which is arriving soon. Lady Elaine Fairchilde thinks the king’s demands are ridiculous and focuses her energy on a birthday celebration for Henrietta Pussycat, who is feeling rather sad. Edgar Cooke is confused about how to bake an item demanded by the king: a life-size comet cake. The neighbors each have their own feelings but remained concerned about one another and engaged.
Mister Rogers is so utterly himself. I can’t be the only one to notice that despite his musicality – he wrote over 200 songs and 13 operas for the show – he’s not a particularly good singer. But that hardly matters when he looks you directly in the eye through the TV camera and sings, “It's you I like.” We are not seeking at that moment a well-trained vocalist; we are longing for authenticity, connection, and peace.
I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.
A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)
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