Just like anyone, Sailors get used to dealing with things that are less than ideal, e.g. putting buckets under leaks, overlooking trash on the deck or in hull frames, or other little things that are annoying but easy to work around. Cultivating new habits of dealing with things right away and not letting things accumulate can be difficult, because once you acknowledge a problem it becomes your responsibility. It’s a lesson we all have to learn, however, and it is the main idea of the following story and prayer.
Don’t complain, fix it.
Born in 1928, He’d had a pretty typical childhood growing up in his little town outside of Pittsburgh, PA. His father was the resident of the McFeely Brick Company, which was the largest business in town until he was 11 years old, when a brewery opened up and made the town famous. Latrobe was also the home of Arnold Palmer, who was born at about the same time, but for now, it was just a steel town just like so many steel towns scattered throughout the mountains of Western Pennsylvania.
His childhood was typical, so because he was shy, overweight, and suffered from asthma, he often had to deal with bullies, who taunted him and called him “Fat Freddie.” As a result, he became a loner and introvert. By himself so much, the bright and imaginative young boy created new worlds in his bedroom, populated by his stuffed animals and toys, with which he would play and interact.
The introvert came out of his shell in high school and made enough real friends to be elected student council president. He edited the yearbook, and even hung around with the captain of the football team.
This bright, imaginative, now popular young man went on to college at Dartmouth and then Rollins College before attending Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He would be ordained a minister in the United Presbyterian Church, but it was something that happened in his final year at Rollins that really changed his life. He watched TV.
Television was brand new in 1951 and Fred wasn’t at all impressed. In fact, he hated it. Rather than dismiss it, however, he decided to change it, and began working at WQED, the public television station in Pittsburgh, as a program developer. With the help of a child psychologist friend he’d met at seminary, the minister developed a program that began in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes, becoming one of PBS’s most popular shows and, including reruns, its 3rd longest running show.
You know who Fred Rogers is, and you know his show Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, because Fred saw something with great potential being squandered and wasted. He thought that there must be some way to use “this vast instrument [of TV] to nurture those who would watch and listen.”
We may not be as smart or creative as Fred Rogers, but all of us can do something—even a small thing—to make where we live and work just a little better. When you see something that frustrates you or makes you angry, resolve to fix it. Chances are you can do more than you think you can. After all, we are going to be neighbors for a while, so let’s make our neighborhood one to be proud of.
LET US PRAY
Lord, it’s easy to overlook the little things that only sometimes pester us, or to put off the thing which doesn’t seem to bother anyone else. Give us the strength an the courage to do those little things that will add up to big things when, in the process, they create in us new and better habits. Guide and direct our steps always and keep us safe. We pray also for the health and safekeeping of our loved ones at home, grant all of us Your peace and comfort, for You are a God of abundant mercy and it’s in Your name we pray.
AMEN
An Orthodox Priest Abroad 