These blood-stained hymns anchor Amish people in the faith of their spiritual ancestors, women and men who heeded God’s call in the most perilous circumstances.
Like their hymns, Amish prayers have a long history. In contrast to many Christians who compose their prayers as they say them, the Amish rely primarily on written prayers in a book titled
Die Ernsthafte Christenpflicht
(The Prayer Book for Earnest Christians). First published in the early 1700s, the prayer book’s resources are only slightly more contemporary than the hymns of the
Ausbund
.
16
The collection, written in German by both Anabaptist and non-Anabaptist authors and intended for private devotional reading, includes prayers for morning and evening, a prayer for “devout parents for their children,” a traveler’s prayer, a pre-sermon prayer, and “a reminder of several points for which we should rightly sigh and pray to God.”
Christenpflicht
is now used by the Amish in church services and for family devotions. For the Amish, these prayers are second in importance only to the Lord’s Prayer, the model prayer that Jesus taught (Matthew 6:9-13).
The continued use of these three spiritual fountains—the Dordrecht Confession, the
Ausbund
, and
Christenpflicht
—sets the Amish apart from other North American Christians, including most of their Anabaptist counterparts. Along with the Bible and
Martyrs Mirror
, these texts feed the headwaters of Amish spirituality. Given the high regard the Amish have for their heritage, it is not surprising that Mary Miller drew heavily from these five sources when she compiled
Our Heritage, Hope, and Faith
.
Rick Warren Enters the Mix
Although firmly anchored in Anabaptism, the Amish way also finds direction from other sources, especially a devotional book that originated in eighteenth-century Lutheran circles.
Lust Gärtlein
includes prayers for everyday life and for major church holidays.
17
Interestingly, some of the
Lust Gärtlein
prayers run against the grain of Anabaptist theology. In fact, a few even mention infant baptism, which prompts the question: Why have the Amish grown so attached to this book ?
The answer lies in the book’s opening section, “Rules of a Godly Life,” which provides forty-seven rules for directing one’s thoughts, words, and deeds.
e
“Beloved friend,” it begins, “if you desire to lead a holy and God-pleasing life, . . . then you must measure your whole life by the Word of God as the only standard of faith and conduct, and let all your thoughts, words, and deeds be in accord with the same.”
Several dozen specific instructions follow. “In the morning, awake with God and consider that this might be your final day,” directs the first rule on guiding one’s thoughts. A few pages later, readers are given instructions for bedtime: “Never go to sleep without first reviewing how you have spent the day just past, what you have accomplished for good or evil, and you will readily perceive whether or not you are making good use of your time.” Rule ten for governing one’s words offers this advice: “Make a habit of not replying to the words of others or to pass judgment unless you have first listened and understood well what they are saying to you.”
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As with
Christenpflicht
, the use of
Lust Gärtlein
tells us that Amish people are quite willing to use spiritual resources developed by other Christians. One section of
Our Heritage, Hope, and Faith
includes popular prayers and devotional snippets from a range of non-Amish authors. For instance, “One Solitary Life,” the anonymous poem about Jesus’ remarkable influence, takes up two pages, and comes right before the widely quoted Serenity Prayer, written by twentieth-century American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Another page, titled “Desiderata,” quotes a long poem that tells readers to “go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”
19
The non-Amish resources in
Our Heritage
are at least fifty years old, but many Amish people draw spiritual strength from more up-to-date resources as well. Our Amish friend Jesse, describing sources preachers use to prepare sermons, listed some contemporary evangelical works: books by Max Lucado, as well as apologetic works like Lee Strobel’s
The Case for Christ
.
20
He also estimated that about half of his friends under age forty (including himself) have read Rick Warren’s best-selling devotional treatise
The Purpose Driven Life
.
21
We were curious whether Jesse liked the book. “The first half is good,” he said, especially Warren’s admonition that “it’s not about you,” which reflects an Anabaptist theme.
Jesse reads more widely than most Amish church members, but his reading shows that Amish people find inspiration in the broader Christian tradition. They share spiritual resources with many other Christians, from the New Testament to certain old Lutheran prayers, from Reinhold Niebuhr to Rick Warren, and they gladly borrow what they find useful. At the same time, the Amish are Christians with a difference, shaped by their peculiar history and the resources bestowed by their spiritual ancestors. In the next four chapters we explore how the Amish way finds expression in the religious life of their communities.
Part II
The Amish Way of Community
CHAPTER THREE
Losing Self
Humility Is the Most Beautiful Virtue
—TITLE OF AN AMISH HYMN
A
lthough few of us have lives like those of the folks in Western genre novels and films, many Americans are fond of Westerns and the ideals they extol. You know the story line: a town faces a problem it cannot solve. Just in time, a lone rider appears on the horizon to set things right. Only a solo operator—a true lone ranger who answers to no one but himself—can save the community. He does, and the townspeople are grateful. They may even ask the hero to stay, although deep down they know that he can’t. Were he to join a community and become accountable to others, his heroic qualities would vanish. Having saved the day, the solitary savior rides away—either on to his next mission or straight into that ever-present sunset.
1
So what do Westerns have to do with the Amish? Very little, other than that these stories throw into sharp relief the chasm between popular American values and those that the Amish hold dear. By glancing at the themes of Westerns, we can see more clearly who the Amish are not—and, in the process, learn more about who they are. Far from having a lone ranger-style spirituality, the Amish submit themselves and their spiritual pursuits to others at almost every turn.
Sheilaism
The Western is only one of many all-American stories that celebrate the individual. From superstar athletes to Wall Street risk-takers to people who achieve up-by-their-bootstraps success, America loves heroes who act alone, exude self-confidence, and refuse to conform. Even when advertisers entice consumers to buy the same things that everyone else is buying, they appeal to personal choice and the promise that their products will help buyers create a unique identity. There are exceptions to this pattern, of course. Plenty of people join communities and form long-lasting bonds, and many more wax nostalgic about bygone neighborhoods where people knew one another’s names. But the cultural tide pulls strongly toward those who are mobile and unattached, and nostalgia only goes so far. If we don’t actually worship the individual, we certainly admire the unfettered life.
This independent streak also shapes American religious life. Sociologist Robert Bellah illustrates this impulse with the story of Sheila Larson, a woman he interviewed for his book
Habits of the Heart
. Sheila was a young nurse who believed in God, but had developed her own faith and named it after herself: Sheilaism. “I can’t remember the last time I went to church,” Sheila admitted to Bellah, but “my faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilaism. Just my own little voice.” Although Sheila was unusual in having named her personal faith, her brand of solo spirituality was common among people Bellah interviewed across the country.
2
Contemporary spirituality is highly individual and deeply private: no one else can judge the authenticity or integrity of this sort of faith. Like the lone ranger, it answers to no one.
Where Everybody Knows Your Name (and More)
The Amish would find Sheilaism impossible to comprehend. Like other aspects of their lives, spirituality is a community affair. If you are an Amish adult, you have been baptized in the presence of two hundred or more relatives and neighbors. At some point in your life, you may need to openly confess sin in front of the same people.Your church decides how you must dress and when your formal education ends. Having a driver’s license or owning a microwave are religious matters on which the church has the final word. Only rarely would your teachers have encouraged individual creativity, and your parents would never have urged you to be whatever you want to be. Instead, you would have been taught that deep meaning and enduring contentment can best be found in community.
This level of community comes with a great deal of security. A mother knows that if she is hospitalized, her congregation will help pay the bills, care for her children, and do the household chores until she recovers. The local church swings into action with meals and moral support after any sort of misfortune, from a catastrophic barn fire to a broken arm.
But with this security comes limitations—ones that seem stifling to non-Amish people accustomed to privacy and personal choice. Ask a convert who grew up in mainstream society to name the hardest thing about joining the Amish church, and he or she will quickly tell you that it wasn’t giving up the car, putting on conspicuous clothing, logging off the Internet, or unplugging the Wii. It was having everyone know all about you and what you were doing every day. For the few dozen converts, many of whom were attracted to the Amish by the promise of a caring community, the reality can come as a shock.
A quick comparison of Amish and non-Amish church directories reveals strikingly different views of community. Non-Amish church directories typically include members’ photos, street addresses, and e-mail addresses. Some list birthdays, but rarely birth years. In most churches you’d be considered rude if you asked someone’s age, let alone published it for everyone to see. Age is considered a private matter.
In contrast, Amish church directories report year of birth as well as other personal and family information, including the names of parents and parents-in-law, marriage date, and often occupation. The directories list all of a married couple’s children, regardless of age, as well as their birth dates, where each one lives, to whom they are married, and if they have joined the church. The directory does not include members’ photos, which the Amish consider taboo, but that doesn’t really matter, as everyone in the local congregation knows everyone else by sight. Amish directories provide detailed maps showing the location of each household. The content of these directories makes it clear: there are few secrets in this church.
“You Go First”
Think of our hero from the Western movie again. He’s awfully good at getting rid of the bad guys, but it’s harder to imagine him giving up his steed or his rifle if the town ever asked him to do so. His brand of heroism would vanish right along with his horse and his gun. But for real communities to function, each person must surrender at least some of his or her personal desires. Most people recognize this truth, but the Amish underscore it at every turn, convinced that life in community demands submission to God and others. “The first step to true brotherhood . . . [is] overcoming selfishness,” Paul Kline, a retired business owner and deacon in Holmes County, Ohio, explains. “It is the utmost possible disappearance of everything personal and selfish.”
3
Unlike the modern quest to find one’s self, Amish people seek to lose themselves. Personal ambition takes a backseat to scripture, church tradition, and family obligation. A common sign in Amish homes and schools proclaims that true JOY comes from putting
J
esus first,
O
thers next, and
Y
ourself last.
Amish people often use the word
uffgevva
, which means “giving up,” to describe surrendering selfish interests and desires. This self-surrender “often involves a battle of the wills,” according to one Amish minister. It involves yielding one’s personal will to God’s will, submitting to the authority of others within the community (parents, teachers, church leaders), and submitting to the wisdom of the group.