reaching out to the Amish people

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I have admired the way of life the Amish lived, the plain and simple life the Amish Communities live, for many years now. My library has many books about their way of life and although their segregation from the world is considered strange, their way of life has a lot to teach us about looking after the earth, our family, forgiveness and service. They are hard working families, living and working together, looking after their families, old and young. Their way of living may sound romantic from books, but it is also a focussed life based on their beliefs and their strong faith. That this way of life and their children would meet with such planned violence makes it a very sad occasion.

It is always difficult to reconcile whatever drove the man to do what he did, with the death of young children, as well as the traumatic impact of this on all the families concerned. The Amish work, care and worship together and do not like to be put in the limelight. Forgiving is at the heart of their religion and this surely has to be the most difficult of times to carry that through. Yet in order to heal and understand what is happening, they will most probably do exactly that because not forgiving the death of their children would give the occasion more life and negative energy in the world. This is a bravery that as a mother, I would find hard to do, in fact neigh impossible. These are not my children and yet I can only imagine what I would think feel and do.

You may know that they have been put in the limelight over the last few days as a result of a man shooting children in their community schoolhouse. This is the equivalent to 9/11 to their society, a hit from nowhere. This touched my heart deeply. I am not sure that I would be that forgiving if it happened to my children and yet, that is their belief, to be supportive to eachother. My work was in supporting families. Despite a tragedy, these people rally around their families, the families affected by this shooting and support in every way possible.
Compare the way the Amish react to this tragedy and what happened when hurricanes hit Missisippi? They may look like a closed group of people, but when their world is hit, they forgive and get together to rebuild their lives. I admire their dedication ,faith and belief in hope. It is my hope that this tragedy will be used for good........in some way or other.

If you want to find out how the lives have been affected, you can see an update on Homemade Simplicity ‘s blog.

Especially in a simple life, deaths of family members are felt very deeply.

In any life, the death of a child upsets the natural order of things.