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For
Children
"Learning Morse Code"
needed: some kind of Morse code transmission
device
A long time
ago, my father and I took a trip together, just the two of us. Do
you like doing special things with your Mom or Dad - just the two
of you? It’s important to spend time together. Since today is
Father’s Day, we’ll talk about Dads and children doing stuff
together, though I know not every kid has a Dad in their life. I
was blessed to have one.
My father and
I had attended a boy scout camp together down in Virginia, and
after that was over the two of us just took off on our trip. We
were headed to Kentucky. Dad had a conference he was attending
there which had activities for children. I don’t remember a
thing I did at that conference. I do remember the trip there and
back. Why? Because along the way, as we headed down the road, Dad
and I taught each other Morse Code.
Do you know
what Morse Code is? It’s a way people communicated long distance
before there were telephones. It sounded like this (using a
transmission device tap out the following:)
o= _ _ _
u= . . _
r= . _ .
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f= . . _ .
a= . _
t= _
h= . . . .
e= .
r= . _ .
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w= . _ _
h= . . . .
i= . .
c= _ . _ .
h= . . . .
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a= . _
r= . _ .
t= _
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i= . .
n= _ .
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h= . . . .
e= .
a= . _
v= . . . _
e= .
n= _ .
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Doesn’t that
sound cool? In Morse code, which was invented by a guy named
Samuel Morse (which is why it’s called "Morse" code),
each letter of the alphabet is represented by a sound, a
combination of what we call a "dot" (a short sound) or a
"dash" (a long sound). For instance, the letter
"A" in Morse code is ( . _ ), a dot followed by a dash.
"B" is ( _ . . . ), a dash followed by 3 dots.
"C" is ( _ . _ . ), a dash then a dot then a dash then a
dot. And so forth.
In the years
since, I’ve forgotten a lot of the Morse code my Dad and I
learned that summer. However, I’ve never forgotten the trip, and
the special time we spent together. By spending time with me, my
Dad gave me a glimpse of my heavenly father, who loves me more
than my Dad ever could - which was a lot!
By the way,
did any of you figure out what message I was tapping out earlier
in Morse code? It was actually only the beginning of a message. Of
course you didn’t, for you probably haven’t learned Morse code
yet. Maybe that’s something you and your Dad could do sometime,
learning Morse code or something else together. The
"together" part is what’s most important.
Anyway, let me
tap out the beginning of that message again in Morse code, this
time speaking each letter as I tap. You’re pretty smart kids.
See if you put the letters together. Here goes (using a
transmission device tap out the above message again).
Excellent! You
figured it out. It’s the beginning of the Lord’s prayer. Jesus
taught his disciples that prayer, but it’s not a code. It’s
just talking with God, our "heavenly Father." The
important part of prayer is spending time together with God. Hey,
let’s everyone pray it together just now.
Okay, before
you head back to your seats, or out to your pre-school class,
would you help me pass these books out to all the Dads in our
church? Thanks!
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