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Daddy
Tapes
A parent's voice brings comfort to a child. There's good reason for this. Children come out of the womb trusting those adults who are closest to them. Typically, these are the parents. Thus, the sound of familiar voices has a calming effect on a child. Twenty years ago, I was preparing to enter the Navy as a chaplain, which required that I attend the Basic Course for Chaplains. This is seven weeks of indoctrination into the Navy, covering its history and traditions; its courtesies and customs; and the proper wearing of the uniform, not to mention learning how to conduct ministry in a military environment. I was anxious to get started. However, I had never been away from my wife longer than two weeks. My girls, Laura and Jenny, were five and two. Now I would be away from them for two months. They simply could not grasp this length of time. What do I do? I sat down one evening after everyone had gone to bed, recording on audio cassette me reading to the girls some of their favorite stories. In between the stories, I would talk to them about what I would be doing while I was away from them, and that they would need to help their mother around the house, and other such small talk. The next day I left for the airport. Later my wife told me that not only did the girls love listening to the cassettes of my voice, they would play them over and over for years to come. My first two duty assignments in the Navy required that I be deployed for differing lengths of time. My first assignment was with Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG 39) at Camp Pendleton. I would leave for anywhere from a week to two weeks with one of our helicopter squadrons. Back home, out would come the "Daddy Tapes."
My next duty assignment was to the USS White Plains, home ported in Guam. The White Plains (which presently resides at the bottom of the briny somewhere off the coast of South Korea) was a supply ship. Translation: it was out to sea continuously. During the twenty-seven months I was the ship's chaplain, we were gone from Guam twenty months. The Daddy Tapes got a real workout! Just recently, the Marine Corps, in concert with the Armed Services YMCA, is starting up the Family Literacy Program for our troops in Iraq. Simply put, our Marines and sailors of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) will have the opportunity to read age-appropriate children's stories on videotape and then mail them back home. These stories will be read from children's books provided by the Disney Foundation. The chaplains in the I MEF are handling the program. Video cameras have been purchased and will be made available to the various commands in the MEF. Moms or dads can go to the chaplain's office on their base in Iraq and be taped reading to their child or children. The Armed Services YMCA folks are providing the tapes and the mailers so that the service member can send home both the tape and the book if they so choose. Just this morning I was speaking to a young Marine who is the father of a three-year-old girl. He joined the Marine Corps about the time she was born. Because of the events of 9-11, he's had very little time with his daughter, so she doesn't really know him. In the ongoing efforts in the War on Terrorism, he is once again, going overseas. This time, he'll be able to send her a video of him reading to her. In today's technological world, this is a wonderful way of helping our military members keep in touch with their children. The parent's voice and image bring comfort to the child. While having devotions this morning, I was reminded of the importance of a parent's voice. Just reading what God has written in his Word brings comfort to this child. How glad I am that, even though I cannot see God with the eye or hear him with the ear, he makes himself known through his Word. The Bible isn't recorded electronically like my first audio cassettes were, nor are they like the videocassettes used by our military in Iraq. No, God has made his own "Daddy Tapes," the Bible. Read it. And take comfort. |
