Shakespeare walked quickly to Holy Trinity Church, to teach a catechism class to children. He did not want to be late. He had come to enjoy teaching this class.

He once disliked having to teach the class. When Vicar Barton first asked him to be the teacher, Shakespeare was excited. He was very eager to help his community in any way he could. The idea of teaching the children about the Bible appealed to him. He liked children very much, and he thought that discussing the stories from Scripture would be as much fun for him as it would be for them.

He loved the account of how the fearsome Goliath was defeated in battle by David—a shepherd who fought with only a sling and a stone. He loved how the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt by Nehemiah—who had been a cup-bearer to the Persian king. He loved how the Israelites were delivered out of slavery in Egypt by Moses, whom God chose as their shepherd. He loved how the dead man Lazarus was brought back to life by Jesus. He wanted to teach the children to love all of this history, too.

He thought at the time, Above all else, I want to help them to know the unchangeable God of love—and to know His Son, Christ Jesus, their loving Lord and Savior—and to know that the Holy Spirit is God Himself, as He comes to live within us.

Shakespeare could not think of a more important obligation than to teach children this most important lesson. He accepted Vicar Barton’s offer without any hesitation.

When he arrived to teach his first class, however, the Vicar surprised him. He warned Shakespeare, “I have one rule. Don’t teach them anything other than what is written in the Book of Common Prayer. They must know how to recite their answers properly. That is all. Teach them nothing else. Leave the ministering to me. If you teach them too much, they will have too many questions, which will lead them to having too many doubts.”

Shakespeare was distressed. He thought, How can I teach the principles of our Christian religion without explaining the history of the Jews—God’s chosen people—which culminated in the immaculate birth, the tragic death, and the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ? I can not imagine anything more dispiriting than teaching children how to become Christians without sharing with them why being a Christian is a cause for joyful and wonderful celebration.

But Shakespeare did as the Vicar said. He taught the children how to recite their answers. It was a horrible experience. The children were so curious. They looked at him with their eyes wide open. And yet he could not satisfy their curiosity and excitement. They asked so many questions—none of which he was permitted to answer.

Shakespeare hated forcing children to recite words without teaching them what the words meant. The children became very irritable at having to learn something that made no sense to them at all.

Then one day, he disobeyed the Vicar.

As he finished his lesson to the children, Shakespeare saw how their eyes drooped, and how sleepy and distracted they were.

Without even thinking, and before he knew what he was saying, he began to tell the children the story of how an angel of the Lord visited Philip the Evangelist.

It was his sister Anne’s favorite part of the whole Bible. She had loved hearing him read it to her, and discussing what it meant. He must have told her the story dozens of times, and it never ceased to delight her. He knew the story so well, he did not even have to look it up, or read from the eighth chapter of the Book of Acts.

Shakespeare told the children how the angel told Philip to go to a barren and desolate desert. He told them how Philip met a very important and powerful man, the royal treasurer for Queen Candace of Ethiopia. Riding in his royal chariot, this African man was reading about the Hebrew prophet Isaiah.

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Shakespeare told them how Philip asked the man if he understood what he was reading. The man answered Philip with a question, “How can I, unless someone teaches me?”

It was obvious to Shakespeare that the children had never heard this story before. Their eyes were wide open again and they leaned forward, eager to hear more.

He told the children how the African man invited Philip to sit with him, and teach him. He wanted to know the meaning of the verses about the man who did not open his mouth and stayed as silent as a lamb, even as he was humiliated and unjustly taken to his death, like sheep led to the slaughter.

The children were a little frightened by these verses. But Shakespeare quickly told the children how Philip told the man the good news about Jesus. Philip told him how God so loved the world, He gave his only begotten Son, and whoever believes in Jesus, the Son of God, would not perish, but have everlasting life.

The children loved this part of the story. Shakespeare then told them how the African man saw some water, and asked Philip if he could be baptized. The children were so excited, and some of them even jumped up and down with excitement. They said they wanted the man to be baptized.

Shakespeare told them how Philip said that he may be baptized—if he believed with all of his heart. It delighted the children.

Shakespeare then told them the best part of the story—when this very important and powerful man said to Philip, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

The children smiled and laughed with such joy.

He told the children how Philip baptized the man, and then Shakespeare said, “And then the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and he disappeared! Whirr! Philip vanished into thin air—away!”

The children were astonished. They asked many questions. They were especially eager to know more about the African man.

Shakespeare said, “He went on his merry way, with great joy and full of pleasure, as he enjoyed his freedom as a Christian—for he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit of the Lord.”

The children all spoke at once:

“What does an angel of the Lord look like?”

“I want to read, too—like the African man!”

“Did Philip fly away, like a bird?”

“Please teach me to read.”

“What is a desert?”

“Where did Philip go?”

“I believe with all of my heart!”

“Where is Ethiopia—is it far away?”

“Please teach us more.”

“How did Philip vanish?”

Shakespeare tried to answer all of their questions, and satisfy their curiosity. The children were especially confused by how Philip vanished. The idea of disappearing had never entered their minds before.

Shakespeare tried to explain. He said, “I think vanishing is like when snow lands on your hand, and then melts away, until it is no longer there. It was there, but then it goes away, somewhere. It vanishes.”

The children nodded their heads, fascinated by the idea that Philip vanished like melting snow.

He even spent extra time with the children, to teach them how how to read a little, by teaching them some verses.

He still did not know why they liked the story so much, but ever since that day, Shakespeare told that story to every new class of catechism students. Every time he told it, it had a similar effect—the children who were bored by learning words they had to recite, became excited by the story of Philip and the man from Ethiopia.

Every time he told the story, it never failed to inspire the children. Even though the children had much to learn, he often thought that adults could learn a thing or two from them.

It made him think of how Jesus once said that people should become as humble as children, if they wanted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Shakespeare admired the children for how friendly they were, how open they could be, how keenly they wanted to learn new things and hear new and exciting stories. He found inspiration in their innocence and in their willingness to trust. They did not understand everything, but Shakespeare thought that their youthful and idealistic and optimistic view of the world more than made up for their lack of knowledge.

He often thought, That must be what Jesus meant when He spoke of the greatness of children.

Shakespeare was nervous that one day the Vicar might catch him, and reprimand him, for not following his rule.

But until the day came when the Vicar caught him, Shakespeare planned not to teach the children only what they had to learn. He would tell them the stories that they wanted to hear, and that they needed to know.