One Aspect of Amish Faith

[Key Guy]

From an AP report regarding the Lancaster County PA post-shooting...

Quote:

Church members visited with the victims' families Tuesday, preparing meals and doing household chores, while Amish elders planned funerals.

Sam Stoltzfus, 63, an Amish woodworker who lives a few miles away from the shooting scene, said the victims' families will be sustained by their faith.

"We think it was God's plan and we're going to have to pick up the pieces and keep going," he said. "A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors."

Having lived in a PA county (Perry) populated with many Amish farmers, I have always been amazed at the apparent low level of grief expressed by their community at the loss of a member, by illness, trauma or whatever. This is the first time I've read of the reason for their ability to pick up and keep going so quickly after a death.

Several points stand out in the quotes from the news article:

1) The Amish community immediately jumps in and props up the family by assisting even in the mundane chores of of the grieving families.

2) It is the church elders who plan the funeral services.

3) It was 'God's plan'?!?

4) Their strong belief in the 'hereafter' sustains them.

I have attended many funerals in my time, Adventist and other, and have always felt more comforted in my grief at Adventist funerals because of our beliefs regarding the state of the dead and resurrection. The other funerals make my angry inside at the 'soul is in Heaven' statements constantly used even if the corpse was an evil person.

I don't know where the Amish stand on the state of the dead, yet it seems that their beliefs go further than that of common Christian views. I would love to tell funeral attendees that we should be grieving for ourselves, as the battle in life for us goes on, while the deceased are through fighting. I'm afraid I may be asked to leave the service!

But, it is true and the Amish seem to have a grasp of that. It would be enlightening to experience the tone of the funeral for the girls and contrast that with the tone of the funeral for the murderer.

Now... don't get me started on 'God's plan' that 10 innocent kids get rounded up, some molested, all shot.

[Gail]

Yes, death is not the worst thing that can happen to a Christian...

[aldona]

This is from today's news - another aspect of the Amish faith that impressed me.

Quote:

The victims' families have forgiven the shooter, Rhoads said, in accordance with the traditionalist Christian denomination's respect for the Gospel message of forgiveness. One of the grandfathers had visited Roberts' family on Monday to convey that, and Roberts's family is expected to visit the victims' families after the funerals, she said.

aldona

[aldona]

Quote:

The other funerals make my angry inside at the 'soul is in Heaven' statements constantly used even if the corpse was an evil person.

Yes, we believe differently than most Christians about the state of the dead and the afterlife, but why should it make us angry?

There is a time and a place, and a method, for sharing the message that "your relative is actually not in heaven - he/she is in the ground" - maybe at the funeral, when the family's emotions are at their most intense, is not the time or the place.

Besides, even if a person was known by us as "an evil person", they were still somebody's son/daughter, somebody's brother/sister, somebody's parent or spouse. There is not one person on this planet who is 100% evil or 100% good. If there was ever a time when the "evil person" did a good deed, or was kind to animals, or helped their neighbor, then the funeral is a good time to remember and acknowledge the positive. Most cultures/religions are against speaking ill of the dead (for various reasons).

About a year ago I attended the funeral of a lady who was the only Adventist in her large family. The service was organised and run by her non-Adventist relatives. After the funeral everybody gathered in the hall for refreshments. All the non-Adventists concentrated on supporting the family members, while the Adventists huddled together in little groups talking in shocked and angry tones about all the "false doctrine" they had just heard about heaven and the state of the dead.

So sad...and so unnecessary.

aldona

[Amelia]

Slain Amish girls laid to rest

October 5, 2006

CNN.com

Quote:

The Amish have also been reaching out to Roberts' family. Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them, AP reported. (Full story)

"I hope they stay around here, and they'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support," Daniel Esh, a 57-year-old Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were inside the school during the attack, said of the Roberts family, according to AP.

How many Christians do you know who would go to this length?

Quote:

Wes Yoder, who said he grew up in the area with many Amish cousins, has been reaching out to the closed Amish community to offer comfort and to act as a liaison with the public.

He said a grandfather of one of the victims was instructing his children and grandchildren to forgive as they embalmed the body of one of the girls, preparing it for burial.

I find their capacity to forgive so quickly very inspiring.

On a side note. The article went on to say that the washing of the body, the imbalming, the dressing and the viewing all takes place in the childs home. They bury their dead in white clothing and the women wear white to the funeral. Quite the counterpoint to our traditiional wearing of black.

[Naomi]

Quote:

I find their capacity to forgive so quickly very inspiring.

It would be difficult to forgive so quickly were it my child, OTOH, the Roberts family were not the responsible for the actions of this guy.

They are doing the right thing and I do admire them for exercising their faith. This speaks more than all the sermons ever spoken.

Naomi

[Dr. Shane]

I heard one of the Amish say that the grieving process would be more difficult for the Roberts family than it would be for them.

[Key Guy]

Just remember, I said I get angry 'inside'. It bothers me that other denomination pastors keep promoting such heresy.

Contrast that with our Biblical beliefs on the state of the dead, and you appreciate even more the mercy that God has for His children in allowing us to sleep before His coming. I cannot imagine dealing with having my loved ones watching me from Heaven (or where ever) while I live out my life, both in private and in public. That's a might unsettling.

[Naomi]

Quote:

I cannot imagine dealing with having my loved ones watching me from Heaven (or where ever) while I live out my life, both in private and in public. That's a might unsettling.

Amen! That would/could be unsettling. :)

[Gerr]

Quote:

How many Christians do you know who would go to this length?

We have much to learn about being a community.

Gerry

[Dr. Shane]

I heard an Adventist pastor once tell that what first interested him in the Adventist church is when he attended an Adventist funeral and saw how happy and peaceful the people were.

[Naomi]

You make a good point Gerry.

Quote:

We have much to learn about being a community.

OTOH, I must say that I have been blessed with having been involved with churches that really have learned about geing a community.

Naomi

[Naomi]

I heard an Adventist pastor once tell that what first interested him in the Adventist church is when he attended an Adventist funeral and saw how happy and peaceful the people were.

Shane, his observtion is interesting; happy and peaceful? I think the loss and tears we show are for our personal loss, not for the state of our loved one.

Naomi

[Amelia]

I have to admit that I had a few people think me odd at my mothers memorial (she was cremated so tech not a funeral). I wore a bright floral dress and didn't cry a drop. Why do most people expect the survivors to be wearing black, veiled and broken down?

[bevin]

Quote:

Quote:

I cannot imagine dealing with having my loved ones watching me from Heaven (or where ever) while I live out my life, both in private and in public. That's a might unsettling.

Amen! That would/could be unsettling.

and extremely boring, for them

Let's face it - if you were in heaven, how much time would you want to watch what is going on in some random middle class American house down here...

/Bevin

[Gerr]

I have told my family that if I die first before Jesus comes, I want no sad songs at my funeral. I've even requested that they sing that rousing hymn, "When We All Get to Heaven".

Gerry