12 / 12
The Amish Voice 12
Non Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Ashland, Ohio
Permit No. 188
Receiving duplicate mailings?
Please note your correct name and address and return all
labels to the Amish Voice
Moving?
Please send us your new address
Not interested in the Amish Voice?
Please remove the label from your newsletter, mail it to
PO Box 128, Savannah OH 44874, and we will take you
off the active list.
Without the label, we are unable to
remove your address from the active list.
Katie lingered longer than she planned
to in the Cedar Lake Country Store. Many
attractions lined the shelves from dishes to
quilts, but the dry goods really grabbed her
attention. She longingly looked at some of
the lighter and brighter colors and couldn’t
resist stroking her fingers across a deep
lavender one.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a
good Sunday dress,” Katie whispered to
herself more than to Mattie Yoder who was
tending the store. She brushed her work-
worn hand over her faded brown apron.
Katie Burkholder was the oldest of
eight children. She came of age a year ear-
lier when she turned twenty-one. Since
then, the pint-sized brunette worked as a
maud (maid) for various families in her
Amish church district. Though she only
stood five feet tall, her dedication to com-
plete a task and devotion to the woman she
worked for more than made up for her
small frame.
Katie’s lingering minutes triggered the
question as to what made a color worldly,
or what was a truly humble color. “Is
worldliness the color of a piece of material,
or is it a heart condition?” Katie wondered.
“Who defines worldliness? Who can
tell if this deep lavender is worldlier than
Emma Troyer’s black that she always
wears?” Katie’s puzzling questions finally
spilled out of her mouth, “Why would
someone think that I am being worldly if I
were to buy this lavender material? It
would wash well with little ironing. What
makes it worldly?”
Mattie moved closer and replied quiet-
ly, “I think it’s just about our church rules;
you know the ordinances we’ve always
had. Bishop Bieler may think that you are
proud; you know we have to be dahmutic
(humble).
“But how can Bishop Bieler know
what’s in my heart?”
“You know you’d be safe if you chose
this dark blue or this deep pine green, and
the church leaders wouldn’t consider you
to be rebellious.”
“Ach! I wish I knew if the church el-
ders are always right. I know we’re not
encouraged to study the Bible on our own
because we may be deceived, but I do read
my New Testament sometimes. When I do,
something inside of me feels more satis-
fied, but another part of me is disturbed.
Katie Finds a Resolution
—
an ongoing series of short stories
— Lydia Chorpening
—continued on page 10—