When my steps were built in the 1950’s, these rocks were used to fill the center. Over the decades, these rocks pushed on the brick stairs, weakening them until the mortar failed and they broke into pieces. Turns out, Mister Rogers was right in more than one sense: it’s what’s on the inside that counts in stair construction. The demise of the stairs began at their construction.

Looking at that huge pile of rocks makes me wonder: what’s inside of me that might be causing damage, pushing my inner life apart? Anger. Resentment. Disappointment. Jealousy. All these are inside me as surely as Joy, Gladness, Satisfaction, and Admiration are. Unlike the steps, I have a choice in what fills me, in what I retain inside myself. Mister Rogers was right: it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Will I choose what is life-giving, or what will break me?