Amish Values (Education and the Role of Reading; Competition v. Kindness)

Another fascinating aspect of Amish culture that is mentioned throughout Amish Values is the love the Amish apparently have for reading.  The Amish are formally schooled only up until eighth grade.  During those years, they attend Amish schools with teachers who are not college graduates.  Interestingly, the teachers rarely make a career of classroom teaching.  Instead, they teach school for a year or two before moving on to something else.  Children are taught in small schools with lots of local control.  In Amish pedagogy, there is plenty of time for active, outdoor activities.  Children are not cooped up all day, chained to a desk.   

Fascinatingly, the Amish also believe that educating the young is a “community responsibility,” which Ms. Fisher notes is quite different from the mainline American belief.  (p. 71)  Most Americans seem to push the responsibility of educating children off on others ( i.e., the state or a private entity we pay) to do it almost unilaterally for us.  Alternately, we “English” (as the Amish refer to non-Amish Americans) assume full responsibility for our children’s education by homeschooling.  Few of us seem to have a sense of communal responsibility for educating the next generation, but education apparently is viewed as a huge responsibility in Amish society.  To understand this perspective, Ms. Fisher observes that children are valued in part because the Amish understand that their community will die if the next generation is not trained correctly.

Despite receiving less formal education than most Americans, the Amish are apparently a people of avid readers.  It is a great joy in their lives.  Ms. Fisher recounts a Trivial Pursuit party hosted by an Amish friend of hers.  As she described the evening, she explained:

I took my seat and hoped all my synapses were firing.  I used to be pretty good at this game, but I knew enough about the Amish to know that this would be a challenge.  These people were readers, and their minds were refreshingly uncluttered from TV and movies. Their memory for detail always astounded me.

Ms. Fisher then noted how different the Trivial Pursuit party was than if it had been hosted by an English family.  The Amish “foster a culture of kindness.” (p. 183)  Competitiveness was not supreme.  There was gentle joking and laughter, but no cutting remarks or sarcasm.  At the end of the evening, families helped the hosts clean up and put things away, then headed home “[h]appy and satisfied after an evening of fun and fellowship, just as it was meant to be.” Ms. Fisher observes:

It’s a shame that kindness is almost rendered meaningless in our culture.  It isn’t modeled much.  Just the opposite.  At times, I think the popularity of reality television has to do with a pleasure we take in meanness, in seeing someone humiliated.  The more sarcastic, the ruder the comments, the more drawn we get.  Would American Idol have soared in popularity without Simon Cowell’s acerbic tongue?  Someone said, it’s like all of America attended Smart-mouth College.

Proverbs 9:9 (Common English Bible)

Teach the wise,
and they will become wiser;
inform the righteous,
and their learning will increase.

Amish Values (Families Spending Time Together)

Because most Amish are farmers or have other home-based businesses, their families are together a great deal of the time.  This is a point that is emphasized a lot throughout the Amish Values book. 

The Amish cherish time together, not accumulation of things.  By contrast, the Amish believe that the “English” (i.e., non-Amish Americans) have “too much money” which makes us unhappy.  From the Amish perspective, the emphasis in our culture is on earning money to have big homes and filling them with stuff.  That is an interesting way of looking at our way of life.  It can be helpful to hear the reaction to our way of life from people who live in a very different culture.

The Amish think it is sad that we (the English) get stressed out with “big debts” and that we sacrifice time with our kids to work to pay such debts.  The Amish believe you can be much happier with less stuff.  What a fascinating perspective.

Also of interest, the Amish believe that the English don’t expect enough of our children.  They believe that we are too busy, so we think it is easier to do things ourselves instead of taking time to teach them to help us. 

The Amish also believe we are overprotective.  As a result, Amish Values states that the adolescence of our (English) children is extended artificially.  Per the Amish, our children may be well-educated and media-savvy, but they do not accept responsibility for themselves.  As Ms. Fisher states: “In today’s world, thirty is the new fifteen!” 

By contrast, the Amish take time to consistently train their children.  That investment of time helps children ease into adulthood and assume great responsibility at an earlier age.  Amish Values talks about children making mischief and making mistakes.  They are given room to mess up.  That is part of learning and growing up.  The adults in their lives use such experiences to continually train them up to be responsible Christian adults.

Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Amish Values (Celebrating Christmas)

A reoccurring theme in Amish Values is the appreciation for and joy in experiences that the rest of American culture would view as fairly trivial.  Camping vacations, caring for animals, enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.  As you read in Ms. Fisher’s book, those are the things that make memories in a family, not wasting time on Facebook or spending oodles of money for a fancy hotel on a trip. 

After reading Amish Values, it occurred to me that modern American culture is so focused on the things of man, i.e., celebrating the works of human being.  In contrast, Amish culture is “simpler” because it rejects these things so as to not be distracted from the gifts of God and his splendorous creation.  I really admire that approach.

Fairly early in the book, there are several chapters that seem particularly apropos at this time of year.  They involve Christmas time anecdotes. 

One describes the celebrations of one family who live on a small farm.  On Christmas day, they get up early to care for the animals like any other day throughout the year.  Then they have a special breakfast.  Then they read the Christmas story from the Bible.  Then they open gifts.  But they are mostly homemade gifts—like yummy baked goods or a new piece of clothing.  And perhaps there are a few other gifts with a practical or beneficial use like a pocketknife, stationery or books.  The family then does something together like go ice skating on a pond with second hand ice skates that may not even fit too well.  They end the day with some of the daily chores that cannot be neglected.  At the end of the chapter, Ms. Fisher explained that the family declared it the “best Christmas we ever had” though most modern Americans would turn up their noses at how unglamorous and perhaps even boring it was. 

Another chapter in the book involves a Christmas tradition of bird watching.  Again, how many modern Americans spend their Christmas day outside marveling at God’s creatures?  Most of us are inside watching football, listening to our iPods or playing video games.  Again, even on such a holy day, we focus on the things of man, not the things of God.

Isaiah 37:19

Common English Bible (CEB)

The Assyrians burned the gods of those nations with fire because they aren’t real gods. They are only man-made creations of wood and stone. That’s how the Assyrians could destroy them.

Psalm 104:24

Common English Bible (CEB)

LORD, you have done so many things!
You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!

Amish Values for Your Family by Suzanne Woods Fisher

I want to blog about a book, which is not about Christmas per se, but its message is very apropos at this time of year when we are all tempted to overindulge in material goods and lose sight of the reason Christmas is actually celebrated.

Not long ago, I found a neat little book with an intriguing title on our local library’s new releases shelf: Amish Values for Your Family: What We Can Learn from the Simple Life.  The author, Suzanne Woods Fisher, is not herself Amish.  But her grandfather was a member of an Anabaptist church in Pennsylvania, and Ms. Fisher has been fascinated by Anabaptist cultures for a long time.  She has spent significant amounts of time studying the Amish.  She apparently hosts a radio program called Amish Wisdom, and she has written a number of books on topics involving the Amish.  The back cover of this particular book sums up its focus:

Amish values like community, forgiveness, simple living, obedience, and more can be your family legacy—without selling your car or changing your wardrobe.

In short, the book is written for a Christian, but non-Amish audience.  Ms. Fisher shares via a series of anecdotes with commentary some of the virtues of Amish culture and suggestions on how to live more like the Amish without discarding electricity or withdrawing from the mainstream culture.

The book is composed of a series of short chapters.  I read it over several weeks as a devotional, reading just a chapter or two each day.  It was such a joy.  I absolutely loved this little book and recommended it to several of my Christian mommy friends.  We all have a great deal of respect and admiration for the Amish. 

The friends with whom I shared this book are all well-educated, professional women with young children.  We live in suburban homes with plenty of modern conveniences and material goods.  None of us are rich by American standards.  We probably would not even be considered upper middle class in this country.  But we certainly live a luxurious lifestyle compared to most of our human brothers and sisters in the world.  We are Christian women who want to raise our children to love God and his people, to be grateful for our blessings, and care for the vulnerable among us.  With the ubiquitous influences of a hedonistic, shallow secular culture, this is no easy feat!

My friends and I are not alone.  Many moms (and dads) want to raise their kids in such a fashion.  Ms. Fisher’s book was written with such families in mind.  As a woman who lives in my culture, but knows Amish culture so well, I love how Ms. Fisher focuses on aspects of Amish beliefs and customs that are so different from the mainstream culture.  And she gives practical advice on how to weave the essence of Amish living into our modern American lives.

I admire many aspects of how dedicated the Amish are to living their Christian faith.  It is not a once-a-week-on-Sundays type of faith.  It is an intrinsic part of their everyday life.  Their faith guides and shapes their culture.  Their strong emphasis on community and family are based on Jesus’s teaching to love and care for one another.  The Amish apparently have a saying: “People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.”  (p. 105) As an Amish minister explains the saying, “There’s no point in knowing God’s Word if you don’t walk God’s Word.” 

For example, the Amish value the vulnerable among them in a real and not abstract way.  Children are loved and constantly taught as their parents go about their household work.  The Amish take their responsibility to” train up” their children very seriously.  Children are given age appropriate responsibility from early on.  They don’t spend time in front of a television or computer.  The family works together. 

The elderly are valued as well.  Caring for aging relatives is not seen as an imposition.  They are cared for at home.  They are valued for their wisdom and contributions in helping to raise children.  There is a beautiful chapter about a family singing to an elderly relative who was dying.  She had always enjoyed music, so the singing brought her comfort as her physical body failed her.

Job 12:12 (DARBY)

With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.

VeggieTales: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving

At our house we don’t watch much TV.  When we do, it is typically a video.  (We don’t like commercials because they waste time and expose us to content that is often inappropriate for little ones.)  Because we don’t watch much TV, when we do, it is a treat.  As a result, in our celebration of the season of Advent, we’ve watched a few Christmas movies at our house.  One in particular I thought was quite good and wanted to mention it in this blog.

I have written in my predecessor blog about the VeggieTales, which is a Christian video cartoon series where all the characters are vegetables.  (Well, Bob the Tomato and Madame Blueberry are technically fruit, but we’ll let that slide.)  My husband became aware of the VeggieTales franchise years ago before we were even parents, but were volunteering as Sunday school teachers.  The director of the children’s ministry raved about the VeggieTales and we occasionally used them in our lessons.

 As parents, we have developed an even greater appreciation of the VeggieTales.  They are fun and cute.  The music is catchy.  They make us laugh.  And my husband and I often say that we have learned a lot from watching VeggieTales shows.  (We’re only half joking.)

Though we like the VeggieTales a lot, we haven’t seen every episode.  In honor of Advent, I found and screened for our family a Christmas themed episode: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving.  It was excellent.

In true VeggieTales fashion, it explains to children where we got the myth of Santa Claus.  It tells the story of the life of the real Saint Nicolas—as portrayed by an adorable little chili pepper.  I won’t give away the plot, but it is a wonderful story to help children understand the importance of helping people in need.  It also does a good job of explaining the secular cult of Santa Claus for a Christian audience. 

Because we want our family’s celebration of Christmas to focus on the religious meaning of the holiday and we aspire to not have it sidetracked by all the secular nonsense, we’ve always been honest with our children about the myth of Santa Claus.  But it is hard to be so countercultural when most little kids in our social circle believe in Santa.  So, our family (and our church) tries to get our kids to focus on the man behind the myth: Saint Nicolas of Myra.  In light of that tradition, this particular VeggieTales episode was especially fun for us.

Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Make for yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a treasure in heaven that never runs out. No thief comes near there, and no moth destroys.

Service and Giving in Advent

Our pastor’s sermon to kick off Advent encouraged us to do things that really celebrated the life of our Savior.  She suggested a number of ideas, but she of course flagged that service is a great way to celebrate Christ’s birth.  She mentioned several ministries at our own church as practical ways to serve others at this time of year.

I really love service and have done a good deal of volunteer work in my life to-date.  But I was talking with some church friends the other day about certain struggles we have with service at our current phase of life.  In the group, we were all parents to young children.  It is very hard to find age appropriate service opportunities to do with children.  Our own family has lived in several towns and gone to different churches while our kids have been young.  At each church, this is a perennial problem.  As a result, it is hard for parents to do service because then child care is needed.  And in our hectic lives, we all already have so precious little time together as a family. 

A friend of mine in the group was saying how guilty it made her feel, she just cannot do enough.  I told her that I used to feel that way, but had eventually come to a realization and a peace about the situation.  I realized that this is only a season in life.  Our kids will not be little and unable to participate in volunteerism forever. They will get bigger and more opportunities will become available. 

And eventually they will fly the nest.  At that point, my husband and I (God willing!) will have plenty of time to devote to serving others.  But I believe at this present season of our lives, God has other plans.  He has put our family together for a reason.  Our children need our nurture and guidance.  So, I am content to be on the service sidelines a lot these days.  I still do things that work logistically like helping with the children’s ministry or ushering at church.  And there are a few other ministries where I only have to help periodically. One ministry even allows our whole family (including the kids) to participate. But I feel that my main area of service right now is to my family—particularly to my young children.

Nonetheless, many parents would like their children to be more involved and to have a better appreciation of the needs and struggles of our brothers and sisters around the world.  It is important—especially when we live in a country of relative wealth—to understand how fortunate we are.  I would like to share two practical ways that my husband and I have helped others while also helping our children understand how privileged their lives are.

First, for a number of years our family has had a tradition of “shopping” for gifts in the World Vision Gift Catalogue.  World Vision is a well-respected Christian humanitarian organization that does an array of practical and impactful things to meet the needs of vulnerable people around the world.  The Gift Catalogue has a number of options.  You can choose from a host of things to bring health, education, nutrition or even a livelihood to children and families in need. Each year, we give each of our children a budget and study the catalogue with them. It always makes tears come to my eyes when they choose to buy things like ducks, blankets, soccer balls, seeds and mosquito netting for other families. I think they have a better appreciation of how difficult some people’s lives are and how our actions can ease their burden.  You can learn more about the World Vision Gift Catalogue at:  http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/pages/unique-gift-catalogs-for-gift-giving?Open.

My own theological views on war and the military are complex.  But regardless of that fact, I greatly admire anyone who gives service to others—particularly those who risk their own lives.  As our nation has been involved in two separate wars in the past decade, my heart has broken for the toll that the situation has taken on families.  I mourn for the separation of parents and children especially.  And at this time of year, I can imagine that sacrifice must seem almost unbearable.  I have been a real fan of the site:  http://www.anysoldier.com/. It provides a list of soldiers who are willing to act as the point person for their unit, and lists things that would be most useful and appropriate to send to that particular unit. Our family on various occasions has sent cards, art work and care packages to soldiers serving overseas.  It is a very worthwhile endeavor.

Matthew 7:9-12

Who among you will give your children a stone when they ask for bread?  Or give them a snake when they ask for fish?  If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.  Therefore, you should treat people in the same way that you want people to treat you; this is the Law and the Prophets.

John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Advent

Last weekend our pastor marked the first Sunday in Advent by giving an inspiring sermon about celebrating this special season.

For those who are unfamiliar, Advent is the name of the season just prior to Christmas.  Many, but not all, Christian churches observe the season.  But some Christ followers don’t use that jargon. 

Anyhow, our pastor normally gives pretty good sermons, but this was a particularly good one.  My husband and I get repulsed by the way our society observe the time leading up to Christmas.  It is bad enough that Christ’s name and birth are exploited for commercial profit.  But instead of embracing Christian values, we seem to embrace the most grotesque of secular values.   Instead of focusing on our love for God whom we cannot see with human eyes, we emphasize the accumulation of material goods we can touch.  Instead of expressing love for our human brothers and sisters, we pepper spray or stampede them to get cheap electronics or other merchandise.  Instead of being grateful for and being good stewards of God’s gift to us of his creation, at this time of year we actually consume more of those finite resources and create more trash for the landfills.  It is horrifying, and I admit that my husband and I get discouraged at this time of year as a result.

But our pastor’s sermon last weekend was just what we needed.  She is a widow with a grown son.  Though this could be a time of loneliness for her, she confessed that it is her favorite time of year.  She spoke about two sets of friends of hers.  One was a person who was so cynical and jaded that he couldn’t enjoy the season.  The other was a couple who in two separate tragic events lost both of their children this past year.  Our pastor noted that none of us knows how much time we are on this Earth, each day is a gift.  We can spend it being cynical or embracing the essence of the Advent season, which is hope.  She encouraged us to take the latter approach and celebrate all that is good about the season.

The next day our family was inspired.  We got up and got out our Advent wreath to put it to good use.  We put up our little Christmas tree, which is about the size of a Charlie Brown tree but in better shape.  It is small, but we enjoy decorating it with ornaments our kids have made, ornaments we’ve been given and ornaments the grandparents used to use when my husband and I were kids.  In the afternoon, we made Christmas cookies, then delivered them to friends and neighbors.  It was a fabulous day!

It was not so much the things we did, but the spirit of the day that really made a difference.  The things we did were pretty simple, but we were together and enjoyed the gift of each other’s company.  Life is finite, none of us knows how many Christmases we will get.  It is important to enjoy each one as the gift it is.

Matthew 1:19-21

Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly.  As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”