Sheppard: A real education is important
Dr. Dennis Sheppard
Hope Mills United Methodist Church
Recently, I was watching a TV show where the host was questioning people on the street. It was just before the Fourth of July, so the questions were about America's independence.
Of the six people interviewed, only one older man could correctly answer the questions about what happened on the Fourth of July, who we won our independence from and who the leader was of the Revolutionary Army that won that independence.
I was saddened at the dearth of knowledge about these important issues. Now I know that teachers work hard to teach. I know that we have a wealth of information in textbooks, libraries, and of course on the Internet, but we still have a pandemic of ignorance. I personally believe that people have to want to learn. I think that wise King Solomon was on to something when he said that "only fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7). In the blatant arrogance of American culture we think ourselves smart when we are not.
A few years ago at the spring graduation at Harvard University, the speaker began his remarks by saying, "You are wonderfully well educated but woefully ignorant." I will always be grateful to my sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Milton Sills, who taught me to love learning. Learning is something we ought to do throughout our entire lives.
I have watched the kids in our preschool as they express the joy of learning, and I have visited a church member who is in his 90s who is constantly reading and learning. They both have the hunger for it. Why is education so important? Simply because our society, our lives, our safety, depend on people being well educated.
Someone sent me a copy of the exam that eighth-graders had to take to be promoted in 1910. I was blown away by how much they had to know in the eighth grade!
That generation understood the importance of a great education. It goes back further than that though. In the days following the industrial revolution in England and the consequent disparity between wealth and poverty, church leaders like John Wesley (the Methodists) and William Booth (The Salvation Army) saw the need to offer education to the poor children who otherwise would not get an education would therefore resort to criminal behavior.
In the evangelistic movement that spread to America, education was deemed so important that the first colleges were founded by churches (Harvard and Yale).
We have come a long way from the perspective of those folks in the 18th and 19th centuries. As we complete the first decade of this new century we have reversed course and no longer embrace the importance of education for society.
In our narcissistic culture, an education may be important for a career or on a resume for a job but not for the whole society. Only when we realize and embrace the truth that learning is essential for the good of our whole society will things get better. That means that we must encourage our children and tutor them.
It also means that we have to keep college and technical educations affordable.
There is an old adage that "Idleness is the devil's playground." Well if idleness is his playground then ignorance is his most fertile field!
Let's make learning a vital part of our lives from the cradle to the grave.
Dr. Dennis Sheppard is pastor of Hope Mills United Methodist Church.