What Mr. Rogers's corpse teaches about sacred "secular" work
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9)
If neckties could tell tales, the one Fred Rogers is buried in would tell an epic one.
With a black-and-blue tartan pattern, it was the style traditionally worn by ordained Presbyterian ministers. But Fred Rogers was no pastor. He was the host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a children's TV show that aired from 1968 to 2001.
Before he was famous, Fred was a relatively unknown TV producer on a show called The Children's Corner, feeling torn between the call to so-called "sacred" and "secular" work. So for eight years, he split the difference, working at the station every weekday while driving 30 blocks at lunchtime for classes at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
But somewhere along those drives between seminary and the studio, an idea formed within him: What if his career and calling weren't opposite trajectories? What if he was called to view his "secular" work on TV as his sacred ministry?
The idea was radical. And th...
