­Somehow Mr. Rogers managed to make his way into my conversation this morning (it was a beautiful snowy day in the neighborhood) and I started thinking about my neighbors (I don’t just mean the people who live close to me, but also people I’ve known for many years, people I’ve just met, people I’ve not met yet, and anyone I might have left out). I was taking my youngest to school and she was remembering yesterday’s sermon she heard in church (I was in the nursery helping with conflict resolution at sermon time).

 “He talked about sin.” she told me (imagine that!), and she was reevaluating her (frequently) bad attitude and need for change in relationships with others. A number of very deep thoughts (for a 14 year-old) surfaced in the course of the conversation, but it gradually morphed into me thinking about my relationships with others. Naturally, some of my favorite people came to mind (I have a lot of favorites). It might surprise you, though, to know that I haven’t always been very fond of Mr. Rogers himself. I first saw his show on TV when I was a teenager and, compared to the frenetic pace of Sesame Street, he seemed slow, pedantic and old. It wasn’t until I heard my sister Laura responding to his invitation to be a neighbor (“Yes!” she said excitedly, every time he sang “Would you be mine?”) that I realized how directly he spoke to the heart. Fred Rogers was a man who cared for his neighbor and spoke love and friendship to a world that needs a lot more of that kind of talk. Since that moment of truth, courtesy of Mr. Rogers and my little sister, I have looked differently at the faces I meet.

  On January 20, 1961, in his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy said (quite possibly thinking of his neighbor), “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” If there was ever a time Americans ought to be looking out for their neighbors, that time is now. Among my circle of friends, I count many who are unemployed or whose income (for those who are self-employed) has decreased dramatically over the past several years - my own gross income has stayed about the same, but my net, what’s left over after business expenses and taxes, has been steadily shrinking. I’m running faster to stay in the same place. In the impending meltdown, there will be more loss, not less, more displacement of workers, more foreclosures, more bankruptcies, and a much greater opportunity for tyranny in the land of the free.
 When JFK gave his now famous speech, he seemed to have a clearer vision of what the purpose of government is; the people working together to forward the common cause of protecting life, liberty and property. The goal is not to enrich an individual or class or group at the expense of the whole, but to manage those things that benefit everyone. Commerce, defense and public safety are among the legitimate functions of government. In many countries, however (and you should have no trouble thinking of examples), the government is composed of those who seem think it their right to live off the sweat of the common man, enriching themselves and their circle of friends and relatives at the expense of others. Even here, in the world’s best hope for freedom and justice, there are examples of this type of thinking (The City of St. Louis’ current problem with runaway pension expenses may be one).
What’s best for America is that no one is left out; that everyone has opportunities; that the weak and the poor are protected from the powerful and rich (and occasionally the other way around). It is important that we all participate as well as contribute, and imperative that we craft a model of action that is both responsible and sustainable – we must stop spending that which we do not have. So who will stop that?  How do we (the un-empowered masses) make that happen?We must stop spending that which we do not have. I implore you to ask yourself - what part can I play in making our country better, our state, our community?  

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