The Amish Way

The Amish Way

Patient Faith in a Perilous World

Most forms of spirituality promise resources for facing dangers. Whether these perils are physical, emotional, or moral, many people search earnestly for help beyond themselves. For many of them, this search leads to God, who according to the Judeo - Christian tradition is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). As Christians, the Amish look to God for help, even though, as we will see, some of the perils they seek to avoid are quite different from those identified by other Christians.

And Amish people demonstrate uncommon patience as they make their way in a perilous world. They do not skip from one thing to the next, but stick with traditional answers and approaches. When they are faced with problems, their first instinct is to wait and pray rather than seek a quick fix. Indeed, “the quick solution, the simple method, and the rapid cure” that characterize “ our instant age” are dangerous, says one Amish church leader. Demanding immediate solutions signals a lack of trust in God, and, in their view, patience is the best way to show acceptance of God’s timing.

We find this commitment to patience fascinating and admirable, but also disconcerting. Although the three of us respect the religious views of the Amish on many levels, we have never been tempted to become Amish, in part because their patient approach runs counter to some of our deepest sensibilities. Is this much patience a good thing? What about working to change the world for the better? As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his book Why We Can't Wait, impatience is sometimes a virtue, for “progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability.” Amish people are not patient in every way, of course, and they do nurture good even as they wait. Still, they reject the activist approach to tackling the world’s problems. Activism — trying to change the world — is simply not the Amish way.

Although changing the world is not the Amish way, resisting the world is. All forms of spirituality are acts of resistance in some respect — resistance to despair or fear, for example — but most forms of spirituality do not resist the world as forcefully as the Amish do.

What the Amish seek to do, perhaps more than any religious community in North America, is to create a society in which members learn to resist the world’s allures and desire the things of God. You could call it a counterculture of religious affection, but the Amish call it “separation from the world." It’s a way of life based on the teachings of Jesus who, in his Sermon on the Mount, reminded his followers that no one can serve two masters. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” Jesus said, and God will provide for your needs (Matthew 6:33). In other words, set your desires on spiritual priorities and you will have nothing to fear, even in a perilous world.

Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Jossey-Bass, from The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World, by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher.  Copyright (c) 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.