What I learned from the Amish in my kitchen

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2024 Blog #17

April 22, 2024

What I learned from the Amish in my kitchen 

I really did have lunch with three young Amish men in my kitchen on Friday. They were a work crew from an Amish contractor that was giving my cabin in upstate New York a new roof. Contractors are hard to find in that area. Many New Yorkers are moving into the area with deep pockets and wanting renovations. The contractors local to the area are quite busy and rarely will contract for small jobs. I am grateful that I found this Amish contracting company and signed a contract with the company last summer. Now, the room is almost completed.

During their coffee break, and lunch, the crew gathered around my kitchen table, and we shared a meal. The crew members were polite, friendly, and hard-working. I was delighted to learn more about the Amish culture. Fortunately, they were patient in answering my questions.

I learned a lot from my conversations with these three and they taught me lessons that I wish every Christian would learn.

At lunch time, Gideon, the foreman of the crew, explained to me that the men would be saying grace before their food, but the grace would be silent. He said that this was a reminder that everyone, not just a designated person, needs to be praying daily and everyone knows what he needs to be praying for. I wish we in our congregations did this much praying.

Gideon also told me that there is a wider variance in customs in Amish communities than most outsiders realize. For example, his group use cell phones. Other groups don’t use cell phones. Each community has rules and customs, and no group is concerned how other groups do things. I wish we in mainline congregations had such tolerant views of other Christians.

The young man also informed me that Amish will only work five days a week. Saturday is there day to relax with family and friends while Sunday is God’s Day. They work hard during five days but don’t work more than those days. I wish that we all learned that lesson. I know people who work seven days a week. Such habits are not healthy for a body nor for relationships. Do we in our congregations follow this balance? I wish we did.

I was impressed, and felt a bit guilty, by there dress. They dress plainly and don’t apologize for it. Dressing fancy, they feel, leads to pride. Fortunately, it was my day off I was dressed plainly when we met. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do like to dress up, especially for special occasions. I do hope that liking to dress well hasn’t given me any sense of pride. This gave me something to think about. How do we dress well without becoming prideful? This is something we all might think about.

These young Amish men, through their dress and customs, let the world know that they are disciples of Christ. They don’t apologize for this. Are the rest of us so willing to do this or do we try to “blend” or “pass” as part of mainline culture. I wish that we were all so willing to proclaim our faith to the world.

And so it was that spending time with three Amish men was an education and a challenge to me. I hope that this gives everyone who reads this blog, or listens to my podcast something to think about as we strive to be authentic Christians.