A Child’s Perspective
In March 1943 eleven-year-old Joan Corbin wrote to her uncle, Walter Kellogg, serving aboard ship in the North Atlantic:
Dear Uncle Joe:
Is it fun on your boat? I hope so. I am in Maryland but am going home very soon. It’s very warm; 70 degrees today! We waded in the woods even! I have made lips here. Mine! I have kissed them. You kiss them too. The love will carry. I hope you will come home safely. I am telling God to keep you in His grace. Please remember me. I won’t forget you, or the job you are doing for your country.
Love, Joanie88
I’m sure it was best that little Joanie didn’t know the details of her uncle’s service at sea. In fact, this is one of the main objectives of all servicemen in war, to protect their loved ones, especially the children, at home. It is also refreshing to hear a child’s perspective on some things that we take so seriously as adults.
During my time in Vietnam, we received many letters from grade school children. Their honesty and naîveté were always uplifting. It is wonderful to catch glimpses of their perspective on the world, especially the innocence and wonder that we too often lose as adults. We know that Jesus honored the children and that he exhorts us to maintain a childlike attitude. This doesn’t mean that we stop thinking or reasoning. It does mean that our faith has to be simple and complete, as a child’s love of a parent or an uncle at sea.
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
—Mark 10:14