Amish Grace

Amish Grace is the second book that I have read recently that gives understanding to those folks known as the Amish. This one is focused on the October, 2006 school shooting in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania and how the Amish responded. Their spontaneous act of faith, forgiveness, caught the attention of those who were reporting these senseless murders and much conversation about it ensued. The authors, Donald B. Kraybill, Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher, have written extensively on Amish culture and the media used them as resources in the days that followed this tragic event. Again, I have found the telling of the Amish story to be interesting and one that asks us to reflect on our understanding of living in faithfulness.

In addition to the insights into the Amish habit of forgiveness, I find their rituals which surround grief to be interesting. Although public grief is often restrained, the authors report that tears do flow freely and deep anguish is felt among the whole community. This grief is acknowledged through specific practices such as daily visits to the family for the first two or three weeks by community members. This is followed by a year’s worth of Sunday afternoon visits. Women wear black when they are in mourning which serves as a sign to the community to respond with care. Memorial poems are written expressing the depth of grief and the thanksgiving for the deceased person’s life. All of this leads those in grief to “a new normal.” How often we seek to rush through our grieving so that our lives can return to normal. The Amish recognition that death changes lives and that the healing of emotions is a process leads me to believe that they are better prepared to accept the next season of grief, and if need be to extend forgiveness, than many of us are.

The Amish community is bound together by strong ties of family, faith and culture. They readily adhere to the biblical commandment to bear one another's burdens. Living into the Word can truly be powerful.