Consider the Amish

[Harlan Norris]

Recently, as we all know,a school run by the Amish was brutally assulted.Several young girls were slain by a man who had intended to rape and torture his victims,then either take his own life or be killed by the police.I watched a news clip. The clip was titled "amazing grace".She interviewed the grandfather of one of the victims.She asked him if he had forgiven the assailant for his deeds.His reply was" yes, In my heart yes I have forgiven him". How could he do that? How is it possible that a man that loved his own flesh could forgive? There is only one way. He does not believe that this is the only life she had. He believes that she has gone to her reward,the same reward that he himself seeks. This mans life is a witness for Christ. How many of us could do this? Forgive. The way these people dealt with their 911,does in no way resemble the way we dealt with ours. They do not seek revenge. They seek everlasting life. We seek to preserve our life. Here. It is not possible that we can do this. We are bound to die. I believe God may have allowed this to show us what a true witness is. Anyway,consider the Amish.

 

[Everlasting33]

Very well written post.

I was also thinking of the Amish today. All my life I had this image in my head of how messed up the Amish were. But ever since this incident, I have a profound respect and greater appreciation for their way of life. I almost would like to be Amish because of the way our society is!!!

 

[Harlan Norris]

Very well written post.

I was also thinking of the Amish today. All my life I had this image in my head of how messed up the Amish were. But ever since this incident, I have a profound respect and greater appreciation for their way of life. I almost would like to be Amish because of the way our society is!!!

Amen to that!

 

[ElijahFalling]

Very well written post.

I was also thinking of the Amish today. All my life I had this image in my head of how messed up the Amish were. But ever since this incident, I have a profound respect and greater appreciation for their way of life. I almost would like to be Amish because of the way our society is!!!

That's exactly what happened to me, too!

 

[fanofthetruth]

Recently, as we all know,a school run by the Amish was brutally assulted.Several young girls were slain by a man who had intended to rape and torture his victims,then either take his own life or be killed by the police.I watched a news clip. The clip was titled "amazing grace".She interviewed the grandfather of one of the victims.She asked him if he had forgiven the assailant for his deeds.His reply was" yes, In my heart yes I have forgiven him". How could he do that? How is it possible that a man that loved his own flesh could forgive? There is only one way. He does not believe that this is the only life she had. He believes that she has gone to her reward,the same reward that he himself seeks. This mans life is a witness for Christ. How many of us could do this? Forgive. The way these people dealt with their 911,does in no way resemble the way we dealt with ours. They do not seek revenge. They seek everlasting life. We seek to preserve our life. Here. It is not possible that we can do this. We are bound to die. I believe God may have allowed this to show us what a true witness is. Anyway,consider the Amish.

I wonder where the shooter went?

 

[ElijahFalling]

I wonder where the shooter went?

I don't think that's any of their, your, or my concern...

 

[TrustingmyLord]

I have "considered" the Amish for quite some time. There is something about them I find fascinating and inspiring. I have read a few books about them and have been quite interested in them for a few years. If it werent for a few key issues, I would love to be Amish.

I have learned that all their communities are slightly different, some being more liberal than the others. If I may, I would first like to list off a few reasons I would not be Amish, then I'd like to point out many more reasons why we can learn from the Amish, and why I respect and admire them so much.

Some communities, in the past, not sure about now, but they strongly frown upon reading the scriptures for oneself, interpreting it yourself. Verse memorization is considered prideful.

Taking pictures, singing a solo, musical instruments, being "different", all considered prideful.

Kids forced to quit school in the 8th grade, whether they want to or not.

The seclusion. While I like the idea on one hand, since staying far away from the world seems like a really good thing, how can they spread the gospel this way? They seem to submit their lives over to many key Bible verses, but neglect the ones about spreading the word.

No computer, or air-conditioning.

Those are the reasons I am not Amish, the first reason, obviously, being the most important.



The reasons that I would like to be Amish, and the reasons I respect and admre them.

The forgiveness aspect. WOW.

The family unity. We so NEED this and it is so very lacking in our culture. The kids quitting school, while I would disagree, they then stay home to help the family, boys helping dad in the fields, the girls learning more about cooking and sewing and the like, spending nearly every minute of the day as a family. Then the grandparents, how they build an attached house onto the main house and the grandparents live there, being a huge part of the lives of their grandchildren, being able to share their wisdom and love.

The dedication to God. Their seriousness about it. True, they are raised this way, but even having the choice to leave during the Rumschpringa, most decide to stay, keeping with a simple way of life. They choose to be different, all for God. They choose to stand firm in their beliefs and I believe they are a huge light to us all.

The Rumschpringa. I find this whole thing so odd. When the kids turn about 16, 18 or so, they have this, it is a time where rules for them become incredily lax. They are allowed to run wild if they choose, many of them even go out into the world, just to see what it is like. The word itself means something akin to sowing wild oats. They run wild for a bit, then they choose whether or not they want to be baptised into the church. If they chose to remain in the world, many communities shun them, but they do get the choice. I find it totally amazing that most of these teens DO join the church. Proverbs 22:6 Raise a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not depart from it. They raise their kids in such away that they are not afraid to let them go run wild, for they have faith that these kids will ultimately make the right decisions. I have to say I love this idea, though I cant see how one could do it in OUR culture. If they did not do this, I suppose it would leave many of them wondering about the outside world as they grow older, perhaps leading them astray.

Hardwork. God commands us to be dilligent, hardworking and to keep our hands from being idle. In our culture, laziness is quite easy, and we are a culture that is consumed with convinience. How different would your life be if you baked your own bread, and milked your own cows instead of running to the nearest convinience store?

The community. Can you imagine having church every two weeks, and rotating houses? Everyone in the community shows up at your house one Sunday! This is such a close knit, family oriented community, that obviously, pulls together in the event of a crisis.

While they do have a few beliefs and ways that I disagree with, I feel there is so much we can learn from them. So many of their ways should inspire us.

Well, theres my 2 cents.

 

[ElijahFalling]

Taking pictures, singing a solo, musical instruments, being "different", all considered prideful.

Kids forced to quit school in the 8th grade, whether they want to or not.

The seclusion. While I like the idea on one hand, since staying far away from the world seems like a really good thing, how can they spread the gospel this way? They seem to submit their lives over to many key Bible verses, but neglect the ones about spreading the word.

No computer, or air-conditioning.

Those are the reasons I am not Amish, the first reason, obviously, being the most important.

Those are good points you brought up. I don't believe that their "collectivistic" culture is right at all. God purposely made everyone unique; artistic expression is not prideful but it brings glory to God. This is why I could never join an Amish community, though I do agree with most of their other traits. Nobody chases after power or greatness or anything like that, they just want to live in peace, which I greatly admire.

 

[TrustingmyLord]

Those are good points you brought up. I don't believe that their "collectivistic" culture is right at all. God purposely made everyone unique; artistic expression is not prideful but it brings glory to God. This is why I could never join an Amish community, though I do agree with most of their other traits. Nobody chases after power or greatness or anything like that, they just want to live in peace, which I greatly admire.

I totally agree. My whole family, husbands, kids, myself, we are all very creative, very musical. God made us all different for a reason, we each have certain talents and abilities that help us in building one another up. Funny thing is, the Amish women make lots of quilts and yes, they do this to keep warm, but they also make them pretty, so I am not sure how they see things like this as being any different. I agree with the humility, and thinking of others better than oneself, but they just go a bit too far I think.

 

[Celticflower]

Since I worked with members of the Amish and Mennonite communities at a farmer's market for a while, I can't say their response to the recent shooting was surprising to me.

TrustingmyLord-- it is possible to practice those aspects of Amish belief and life that you find appealing. We can all learn much from them about forgiveness, generosity (sp?), community and family.

 

[Harlan Norris]

I have "considered" the Amish for quite some time. There is something about them I find fascinating and inspiring. I have read a few books about them and have been quite interested in them for a few years. If it werent for a few key issues, I would love to be Amish.

I have learned that all their communities are slightly different, some being more liberal than the others. If I may, I would first like to list off a few reasons I would not be Amish, then I'd like to point out many more reasons why we can learn from the Amish, and why I respect and admire them so much.

Some communities, in the past, not sure about now, but they strongly frown upon reading the scriptures for oneself, interpreting it yourself. Verse memorization is considered prideful.

Taking pictures, singing a solo, musical instruments, being "different", all considered prideful.

Kids forced to quit school in the 8th grade, whether they want to or not.

The seclusion. While I like the idea on one hand, since staying far away from the world seems like a really good thing, how can they spread the gospel this way? They seem to submit their lives over to many key Bible verses, but neglect the ones about spreading the word.

No computer, or air-conditioning.

Those are the reasons I am not Amish, the first reason, obviously, being the most important.



The reasons that I would like to be Amish, and the reasons I respect and admre them.

The forgiveness aspect. WOW.

The family unity. We so NEED this and it is so very lacking in our culture. The kids quitting school, while I would disagree, they then stay home to help the family, boys helping dad in the fields, the girls learning more about cooking and sewing and the like, spending nearly every minute of the day as a family. Then the grandparents, how they build an attached house onto the main house and the grandparents live there, being a huge part of the lives of their grandchildren, being able to share their wisdom and love.

The dedication to God. Their seriousness about it. True, they are raised this way, but even having the choice to leave during the Rumschpringa, most decide to stay, keeping with a simple way of life. They choose to be different, all for God. They choose to stand firm in their beliefs and I believe they are a huge light to us all.

The Rumschpringa. I find this whole thing so odd. When the kids turn about 16, 18 or so, they have this, it is a time where rules for them become incredily lax. They are allowed to run wild if they choose, many of them even go out into the world, just to see what it is like. The word itself means something akin to sowing wild oats. They run wild for a bit, then they choose whether or not they want to be baptised into the church. If they chose to remain in the world, many communities shun them, but they do get the choice. I find it totally amazing that most of these teens DO join the church. Proverbs 22:6 Raise a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not depart from it. They raise their kids in such away that they are not afraid to let them go run wild, for they have faith that these kids will ultimately make the right decisions. I have to say I love this idea, though I cant see how one could do it in OUR culture. If they did not do this, I suppose it would leave many of them wondering about the outside world as they grow older, perhaps leading them astray.

Hardwork. God commands us to be dilligent, hardworking and to keep our hands from being idle. In our culture, laziness is quite easy, and we are a culture that is consumed with convinience. How different would your life be if you baked your own bread, and milked your own cows instead of running to the nearest convinience store?

The community. Can you imagine having church every two weeks, and rotating houses? Everyone in the community shows up at your house one Sunday! This is such a close knit, family oriented community, that obviously, pulls together in the event of a crisis.

While they do have a few beliefs and ways that I disagree with, I feel there is so much we can learn from them. So many of their ways should inspire us.

Well, theres my 2 cents.

Good post. I doubt the strictures they place on themselves would be sufferable to most that have lived in our society.As you say though the fact that most remaine is a testimony to upbringing. I know that not all of them subscribe whole heartedly to their teaching,but their goal of salvation and their heart of grace,is beyond question.