Latest message from Matthew Hutchison

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood: A Lenten message

Catching a final movie before returning to school, Anna and I decided on A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as the beloved American children’s TV host, Fred Rogers. Whilst I was initially reluctant, preferring villains and car chases, it is one of those movies that provides great insight amongst the sometimes messiness of ordinary life. It is drawn, on the true story, from the friendship between Rogers and journalist Tom Junod, who reluctantly was required to profile Rogers for Esquire magazine in 1998 and found himself surprised by the man’s depth and genuine warmth.

Junod is a hard-edged and successful journalist, a new father, married to a woman who clearly loves him, and has a broken relationship with his father that has never healed. He is a man hurt by his past who has closed off certain emotions in order to survive which ultimately affects all his relationships. It had been years since Junod had seen or spoken with his father who abandoned the family at a crucial time. His sister’s third wedding brings them together; their encounter ends in a fistfight. A bashful Junod rolls up to meet Mr Rogers with his face cut and bruised. “A softball injury,” he explains. 

From here on, we witness the wounded soul who meets a healer. It celebrates the virtues of patient listening, gentleness and the honest expression of feelings. Rogers makes seemingly a number of offhand remarks to Junod that can strike meaning for us all. He reminds Junod that ‘everything mentionable is manageable’ and gives basic advice to us as parents that we ‘were once a child too.’

The friendship helps Junod to make peace with his father, to be a more responsive husband and a more involved father. It is a timely story of acceptance and forgiveness; lessons we need at any time and likely always will. Rogers explains that forgiveness is not a simple story with a beginning, middle and end. It is often rather more like putting a puzzle together. 

I would recommend the movie to anyone who carries an unnecessary burden in their life. Perhaps it will be an inspiration to any parent who has made mistakes and thinks that they can’t be healed. Its message is out of sorts with the culture we inhabit, one in which people too often hang onto grievances and wounds at the price of their own freedom. 

I find forgiveness the most threatening part of the Christian story. It asks us to give away a prized possession, namely the power to hold something against another. It is said forgiveness means accepting that the past is never going to change and this is one of the hardest lessons we are called to both teach and learn.  During this upcoming Lent, we pray for forgiveness, to be open to the light ahead rather than the darkness behind, to start anew, to make amends, to seek humility. We are all called to freedom. 

Start well

While it is still relatively early in the academic year, the key question for our boys is to determine if they have established a routine in their life. If a disciplined routine has not yet been established, it will become increasingly difficult to meet the demands of assignments and assessment tasks. Experience informs us many boys, when faced with an overwhelming work load, will ‘kick away’ their commitment to a subject in preference to working methodically through each task.  

I have no doubt that family life has altered considerably as the rhythm of the academic year and the intensity of teaching and learning is apparent at every turn. Many of our boys are heavily involved in the co-curricular life at the College and in addition have commitments with other community groups and part-time work. It is important that parents assist their son to ensure an outside of school activity does not place detrimental demands on their son’s academic responsibilities. While having a good routine may not seem important in the early years, the patterns established when students are younger will hold them in good stead in the years ahead. 

Also included in this edition...

Find out what's been happening in the Junior School, the power of reading, an invitation to the 'Being Marist' Parent Evening, plus updates on several Co-curricular activities.