This article first appeared in the West Douglas County Record on November 26, 2009:
Once upon a time, in high school Social Studies, the teacher asked who was the first American in space. I spoke up and said “Alan Shepard,” and he began to write the name on the blackboard. That’s where the trouble began. He started to spell the astronaut’s last name S-h-e-p-h-e-r-d, like a herder of sheep, and I tried to point out that the name was spelled S-h-e-p-a-r-d, but to no avail. To our teacher it seemed clear that, since the word shepherd is spelled s-h-e-p-h-e-r-d, the astronaut’s name must be spelled that way. I felt discouraged and frustrated. As a lifelong fan of astronomy and space travel, I knew well how to spell the name of the pioneer Mercury astronaut, who later traveled to the Moon and famously golfed there, on Apollo 14. Furthermore, I was no slouch with spelling. I knew very well how to spell shepherd, and also how to spell Shepard. But now my teacher wasn’t listening to me, and the whole class seemed to agree with him. Were they taking it on faith that the teacher must be right? Could some in the class have enjoyed seeing me put in my place? I admit that as a kid I could sometimes be boastful about my knowledge. It’s good not to boast, but it’s also good to be confident, and after that day I was less confident about speaking up in class.
But I knew the truth. Regardless of what anyone in class thought, even the teacher, shepherd is spelled shepherd, and (Alan) Shepard is spelled Shepard. But don’t just take my word for it. There are higher authorities that can be consulted. Check a dictionary, encyclopedia, or the NASA website if you really want to be sure. The Bible says, “By two or three witnesses let every fact be confirmed” (Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, and other places). In spite of what many people say, the Bible encourages us to check things out and not just accept things blindly.
There is a Voice who speaks with much greater authority than myself, or my teacher, or the dictionary, or the highest leader of the most powerful nation, and sometimes people don’t listen to Him either: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:11, 12 NASB) A “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) can testify to the truth of what this Man, Jesus, has done for them.
One more thing, for those of us who are teachers, preachers, or others in authority: we have a special duty to the truth which requires us not to discount anyone’s voice, including that kid who doesn’t seem to know how to spell “shepherd,” or that employee who quietly but stubbornly refuses to see things your way when everyone else does, or that parishioner who disagrees with my pet point in my recent sermon. They may know something we don’t!
Leave a Reply