Just as Christianity is often distorted or misrepresented by those who are not part of it, so too is the Amish community and some of their practices. When I was in college, the school I attended taught that Christianity was a lifestyle and not just a religion. The belief of the Amish is similar and although they follow strict rules of conduct, they do have a strong belief in who Jesus is and in His sacrificial atonement. Their close-knit families live simply, prudently, and with high moral standards. It is never assumed however that an Amish child will forever be an Amish child. “Rumspringa” refers to Amish adolescence, and Amish adolescents are much like the adolescents that live in our own homes with their developing maturity, growing independence, and the need to personally “own” the beliefs of their parents. And Amish youth are given a choice as to whether or not they want to individually accept the teachings of their faith and remain within the Amish community, or if they want to separate themselves from the community and establish a different lifestyle with perhaps too, a different set of beliefs. Most young people, even though some may do some “experimenting”, most young people do choose to stay within their communities and commit themselves to the adherence it signifies. It is definitely though a time to choose. Who will I believe? What will I believe? Who and what will I commit my life to? How is my lifestyle going to reflect what I believe? They are good questions for all of us and we all have within our own lives, a time to choose.
As a young bride and a first time mom, I was faced with the loss of our daughter, Tonia, at birth. It was a time of tragedy, of confusion, of indescribable heartache and emptiness, but it was also a time to choose. And amidst the tragedy and with the questions still shouting at me, I chose. There was much I did not understand about God at that time, but I knew I wanted God and I knew I wanted to somehow, some way, live life, God’s way. And I chose. The choice was real and the choice did not put expectations on God. The choice was void of my own wants and desires, and through the profundity of my tears and my pain, I told God I was choosing Him and I was choosing life however He would lay it out before me.
Many years later I stood beside my youngest son in the hospital’s ER. And this time, I was attempting to quiet his confusion and his fears while my own raged within me. In my own thinking, God, we have already been down this road before. Must we go down it again? More than needing an answer to the rawness of unknown tomorrows, it was time again to choose. And I chose. I wanted God and I knew that no matter what the tomorrows would hold, my God would be real and my God would be sufficient. I chose, and then, I waited.
Life holds its times to choose. And you may simply be in your kitchen, or in your car, at your desk, or in your garden, but you are very aware it is a time to choose. You may be faced with something that is potentially life-altering, but maybe in the immediate tomorrows, it can seem relatively minor, and yet it is still, a time to choose. Who will I believe? What will I believe? Who and what will I commit my life to? How is my lifestyle going to reflect what I believe?
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: Joshua 24:14-16)
