Greetings bloggers! As many of you know I am currently in Pennsylvania with a bus tour of folks - 30 from Bracebridge and16 from Bowmanville. We are here to learn about the Amish and to view a couple of plays at a Christian based theatre. Well, okay we also spent the morning at Hershey home of the world’s largest chocolate factory!

 

I have led a couple of educational tours with folks in years past; one trip to Israel and the other to Europe to see the passion play at Oberammergau.   There is something quite special about travelling together with a group. It is an opportunity to learn and it provides a cultural experience but it is also a wonderful opportunity to come together as a group. This tour has been no exception. We have begun each morning, just before the bus pulls out of the parking lot, with a brief reading and reflection. We usually take a few minutes during each day to sing a couple of hymns. Over meals and on the bus rides from here to there we share what we have learned and experienced. Within the first day community is being built among the travelers, concerns are shared, jokes are enjoyed and care is given.

 

Chief among our learning on this trip has been the traditions and practices of the Amish. Lancaster County, PA is the second largest Amish community in the world with 8000 old order Amish living here. They practice a style of living that is, in many ways, separate from the predominant culture. (If you ever watched the Harrison Ford movie, Witness, you will remember something of the culture divide from the world of the Plain people as they are called and the English – as everyone who isn’t Amish is called). Our tour guide told us that the main way to understand the Amish way of life is to remember that they believe in the principle “Less is more - the less you have the richer you are.”

 

We were able to speak with some Amish folk – a mother and her children and an older couple who fed us dinner one night (yes, prepared a meal for our whole busload). We learned of the centrality of their faith and the level of commitment to a simple life focused on family and piety. This means eschewing many of the conveniences and gadgets that fill our lives.

 

I admit it - it is not a lifestyle I would choose. Nonetheless, I do admire them for living a life congruent with a stalwart faith.