{"id":14164,"date":"2018-10-31T01:23:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T01:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=14164"},"modified":"2018-11-01T01:25:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T01:25:10","slug":"how-mister-rogers-message-of-love-might-help-us-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-mister-rogers-message-of-love-might-help-us-now\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mister Rogers\u2019 message of love might help us now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Gunderman<\/a>, Indiana University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh neighborhood in which the recent horrific mass shooting took place isn\u2019t only the home of the Tree of Life synagogue. Squirrel Hill<\/a> was also Mr. Rogers\u2019 neighborhood, the place where he lived and ultimately chose to die in his own home. <\/p>\n

The irony is bitter indeed, because Fred McFeely Rogers<\/a>, the beloved children\u2019s television host who died in 2003, was also an ordained Presbyterian minister. Over the course of three decades on public broadcasting, he brought to millions of children what his faith\u2019s General Assembly<\/a> referred to as \u201cunconditional love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a documentary<\/a> on Rogers released earlier this year, his widow reveals that this apostle of love struggled with evil in its many forms all his life. In his day as in ours, he knew that young people would be exposed to innumerable images of hatred through television and other media. To counteract it, Rogers took to the airways, encouraging people of all ages to accept themselves and each other. As he said in 1979<\/a>, \u201cMy whole approach in broadcasting has always been, \u2018You are an important person just the way you are.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers was on to something \u2013 namely, that the world needs more love, and that each of us can play an important role in making the world a kinder place.<\/p>\n

Love gave rise to a calling<\/h2>\n

Born in Pennsylvania in 1928, as a young minister Rogers regretted the messages television was conveying to children in the 1960s. He said<\/a>, \u201cI went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there\u2019s some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen.\u201d \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood\u201d debuted nationally in 1968 and won its creator and host many accolades<\/a>, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom, two Peabody Awards and over 40 honorary degrees.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Fred Rogers with President George W. Bush, who is about to place the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Rogers in a July 9, 2002, ceremony.<\/span>
\n Kenneth Lambert\/AP Photo<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rogers believed that the need to love and be loved was universal, and he sought to cultivate these capacities through every program, saying in a 2004 documentary<\/a> hosted by actor Michael Keaton, one of his former stagehands, \u201cYou know, I think everybody longs to be loved, and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And consequently, the greatest thing we can do is to help somebody know they\u2019re loved and capable of loving.\u201d It turns out that in encouraging people to love one another, Rogers was actually helping us take better care of ourselves.<\/p>\n

Love and health<\/h2>\n

There are many ways in which love and kindness are good for health, especially in such difficult times. For one thing, they tend to reduce factors<\/a> that undermine it. Doing something nice for someone causes the release of endorphins, which help to relieve pain. People who make kindness a habit have lower levels of stress hormones<\/a> such as cortisol. Intentionally helping others can even lower levels of anxiety<\/a> in individuals who normally avoid social situations.<\/p>\n

Carrying out acts of kindness, or even merely witnessing<\/a> them, also increases levels of oxytocin<\/a>, a hormone with health benefits<\/a> as diverse as lowering blood pressure, promoting good sleep and reducing cravings for drugs such as cocaine and alcohol. Who wasn\u2019t touched and uplifted by the news that one of the nurses treating the shooter is Jewish, and that the Jewish president of the hospital where he was treated stopped in to check on him? <\/p>\n

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