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The Amish Voice 2

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rather be left alone than be with others.

Today’s church service is no different

than it has always been. After waiting in

the barn until it is time to go to the house,

I follow the line of boys behind the

grown men into the living room where

the service takes place.

The German hymnbooks are passed and

soon the singing starts. The slow, mellow

singing drags on and I wonder what the

words are saying. As I sit there, my mind

wanders to the two weeks that have

passed since the last church service.

Where did they go? What had become of

my resolutions and promises to myself

and God that I would do better after

leaving church? Every time I sit here and

hear the preachers speak of the

righteousness and the judgment of God, I

am convicted of my sins, and I promise

myself I will do better. I hear the bishop’s

thundering messages on hell and the

awful fate of those who fail to please

God, and I am desperate to make it to

heaven. I promise myself that I will live

better, that I will do whatever I must in

order to make it; yet I can’t put my finger

on what it is that I need to do. I know I

have shortcomings and faults in my life

for which I feel guilty. I am constantly

angry with my siblings; my temper often

gets out of control. I swear all the time,

and my mind is often filled with awful

thoughts of lust. I know all these things

are bad, but still, I have a hard time

thinking of them as bad enough to make

me deserve hell. In my mind, I am not

worse than most of the Amish members

of the church who are sitting in the room

with me, and I would think most of them

would be good enough to make it to

heaven. If not, what is the use of being

Amish? Is this not what the Amish way is

all about—to make a person good enough

to please God? Yet I can’t shake this

uneasy fear inside of me—this feeling of

being distant from God, and feeling His

anger and judgment over me.

As I sit there, I once again promise

myself that next week will be different,

that this time I will surely do my best to

improve my life to a condition that is

acceptable to God. Until then, I

desperately hope and pray that my life

will not be snuffed out and I must go to

meet God. I tremble at the thought.

The singing is finally over, and one of the

preachers gets to his feet to preach the

first sermon of the day. He begins in the

normal way: the greeting, the wish of

God’s blessing and grace on all present,

and the reminder that we are still in the

land of preparation. Then he quotes the

familiar verses that are always, without

fail, recited by all the preachers. Even

though I have heard the words a hundred

times, they once again wash over my soul

with a glimmer of hope:

Psalm 106:1

Danket dem HERRN;

denn er ist freundlich, und seine

Güte währet ewiglich.

2

Wer kann die großen Taten des

HERRN ausreden und alle seine

löblichen Werke preisen?

3

Wohl denen, die das Gebot halten

und tun immerdar recht!

4

HERR, gedenke mein nach der

Gnade, die du dem Volk verheißen

hast; beweise uns deine Hilfe,

5

daß wir sehen mögen die Wohlfahrt

deiner Auserwählten und uns

freuen, daß es deinem Volk wohl

geht, und uns rühmen mit deinem

Erbteil.

Interpreted in English:

Psalm 106:1

Praise ye the Lord. O

give thanks unto the Lord; for he is

good: for his mercy endureth for

ever.

2

Who can utter the mighty acts of the

Lord? who can shew forth all his

praise?

3

Blessed are they that keep judgment,

and he that doeth righteousness at

all times.

4

Remember me, O Lord, with the

favour that thou bearest unto thy

people: O visit me with thy

salvation;

5

That I may see the good of thy

chosen, that I may rejoice in the

gladness of thy nation, that I may

glory with thine inheritance.

Thank God, for he is friendly, and his

goodness endures forever

. The words

have a reassuring effect on me. God is

friendly and good after all. To me, God is

a constant reminder of my failure and

guilt, and I’m afraid of Him, yet the

Scriptures say that He is friendly and

good.

I almost believe it.

Blessed are those who keep the

commandment, and always do right

. This

verse always brings me a mixture of hope

and despair. Hope, because it contains the

answer, the secret that I have been

looking for. If only I can keep the