Mr. Roger’s Blessing

In 2001, Fred Rogers, Presbyterian clergyman

And children’s TV pioneer, spoke at Marquette University

And said, “Anyone who has ever graduated from a university,

Anyone who has ever been able to sustain a good work,

Had at least one person—and often many – who believed in him or her…

I’d like to give you an invisible gift; a gift of silence to think about those

Who nourish you—anyone who has ever loved you

And wanted what was best for you. Some of those may be right here.

Some may be far away, even in heaven.

But if they’ve encouraged you to come closer

To what you know to be essential about life,

I’d like you to have a silent minute to think of them.”

I think it is what the Lord meant

When He told His people to remember grace

When you drink from “cisterns you did not dig.” (Dt. 6:10)

So, I bless you today with that same, silent gift—

A minute, one unhurried minute,

To think about someone who helped dig the cistern

From which you have drunk the living water.

I bless you to think of them

And thank God for them

And to know that God gave them to you

So you can be who you are today.