SUNDAY BLUE LAWS

The market place is empty. No more traffic in the streets. All the stores are closed and locked up tight. There is no chance to purchase anything. It’s an eerie feeling on a bright and sunny Sunday morning in Northern Indiana. The town is deserted. What has happened, you ask?

Years ago there was a body of laws created in Colonial New England that were designed to enforce moral standards and particularly to prohibit specified forms of entertainment or recreation on Sunday. It was also designed to regulate commercial business on Sunday. These laws were called the Sunday Blue Law because they were written on blue paper. They have long passed from the law books, little by little.

You know it’s Sunday in Shipshewana, Indiana, where the spirit of these laws is still practiced because the county of LaGrange is 60% Amish and Mennonite. Because of this strong religious presence every store and eating place (except one pizza place and one service station) closes all day on Sunday.

Walk down Main Street– it’s highway 5– and you will not see one car parked in front of commercial establishments. In fact, very few cars will be on the highway driving through.

The folks of this 500 person town all respect the sacredness of the Lord’s Day so all businesses are closed. They like it this way.

As you are sitting in the comfort of a park bench under the shade of the sycamore tree, you often see an Amish horse and buggy traveling late in the day returning home from an all day church service held in home of an Amish. In addition to the birds singing, the “clip-clop. clip-clop” of the horses is about all you will hear. It’s quiet. It’s nice. Come with me to the “yesteryear” and enjoy the peaceful and quiet result of the Sunday Blue law.

And, that's the way it is. So long till another time when we once again explore life in a small town where the Amish and the Mennonites live.

Don and Marilyn, writing from our second story apartment overlooking the beautiful grounds of the world famous MENNOHOF Interpretative Center. Summer is here and the crowds are coming. Yesterday we had over 200 people. People come from all over the world: Reedley, CA, Clovis, CA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Russia, England and on and on. In June we had 3,750 people visit MennoHof

BEHIND THE HORSES TAIL

Picture yourself seated in an Amish Family buggy after an invitation from new friends to take a ride. The connection between the horse and the buggy is so close it seems that you are almost able to touch the horse. You are right “behind the horses tail”.

The ride through the lush countryside near the little town of Emma is exhilarating. You are traveling slow enough so that you can greet people along the way. You have time to think and talk and enjoy the manicured farm lands

Bud, the 17 year old part Morgan horse keeps the buggy moving at an even clip. Occasionally, its owner softly utters a word sounding like “jeez” to encourage Bud to keep the trotting tempo at a uniform speed. We could not tell the difference but the driver could. The steady sound of “clip-clock” along the road reminds you that you are still “behind the horses tail.” The driver sits on the right side and there is no window for him, but I sat next to him and there was a glass pane in front of me so I didn’t worry too much about being right “behind the horses tail.”

As you turn a corner you don’t have to worry about slowing down as you are not going fast enough to make a difference. You soon become mesmerized by the world moving so slow by you. You wonder out loud about trading a truck for a horse and buggy and the owner says “not a fair deal– for you.” A new family size buggy could cost as much as $5000 and a young, spirited horse would sell for around $1500 at the weekly auction sale in Shipshi. That’s abbreviation for us “locals’ here in Shipshewana, Indiana.

It’s obvious that living “behind the horses tail” ones life is in the slow lane. There is more time with your family because you are not all going in different directions and you are spending more time together. There are moments when we comment about the advantages of this living style.

We met Bud’s owners, Fritz and Norma Bontrager one June day in 2007. They had met my sis and brother-in-law years before and when they found out we were in the area they contacted us. They invited us to supper and soon we were enjoying our visit out on the covered porch. They showed us their 30,000 chickens and explained how they convinced the Bishop of their District house church to allow them to obtain a diesel engine to generate power to run the cooling fans. Fritz also works in the mobile home business making base cabinets for the kitchens.

Next, we met them in a wide spot in the road, a town called Emma, for a traditional Amish supper in the town restaurant. The restaurant is in a corner of the General Store which was built in 1931. It’s typical rural, small town atmosphere. Norma and Fritz have three daughters and two sons. The sons have their own cars but the three girls still ride “behind the horses tail.”

We had a grand time visiting with them and learning more about their culture. The main meal was new to us– ham loaf. This is a common item that is like a meatloaf but includes three kinds of meat: ham, sausage and hamburger. Very tasty.

Our ride “behind the horses tail” ended a nice visit and as we sped home in our truck, we watched in the rear mirror as our Amish friends “clip-clocked” back to the farm.

THE CATHREDRAL OF LAST RESORT

In 1447 Gutenberg invented the printing press and history would never be the same. Because the Bible could now be printed in the language of the common man early day reformers studied the Bible and discovered what the State Church was teaching was not what the Bible was saying.

The 18th century reformers felt that baptism should follow an expression of faith. The law of the land required all infants to be baptized. The reformers refused to baptize their infants and re-baptized themselves as adults, following their expression of faith in Christ. They became known as the Anabaptists, or “re-baptizers”. The Mennonites, Hutterites, Amish and most other main-line protestant denominations would come out of this movement. (“Protestant” means to “protest”)

The Cathredral Of Last Resort- the Dungeon

The State Church reacted with arrests and punishments. The motivation was not meant for cruelty but the desire for conformity to the state church rules. Authorities believed that without total conformity society would crumble. Torture in the 16th century was not crude or haphazard. It was conducted with scientific precision. When torture and incarceration didn’t help, the State Church resorted to burnings at the stake, drowning in the river, etc. Men and women alike were martyred.

Anabaptist Catcher

The people in the state church worshipped in Cathedrals with beautiful stained glass windows. The reformers were tortured in the Cathedral of Last Resort- the Dungeon. It was equipped with stocks, stretching apparatus, chains and many other objects of punishment and torture. When the purpose to obtain a person to recant didn’t work through incarceration and torture the believers were burned at the stake or drowned in the rivers. Men and women alike met death in this manner.

The Dungeon (Cathedral of Last Resort) was the final stop on the way to martyrdom. But, in the end they believed they would be trading the Cathedral Of Last Resort for a beautiful Cathedral in Heaven. I often wonder if my faith would have been that strong. How say you?

FOLLOW THE EXHAUST

The Amish believe that cars cause families to be away from home and from each other too often. They feel the car also speeds up the tempo of life and make people forget what is important. They also state the power of the auto gives its owner an unnatural sense of self importance. Buggies keep people closer to nature and their community and, therefore, closer to God. They won’t own an auto but will hire drivers to take them if the distance is more than 10 miles. Charges will run around $10.00 per hour and .95 to 1.25 per mile.

In an Amish community you can always “follow the exhaust” and know which way a horse and buggy went. Most roads in the community have wide shoulders for the Amish and their buggies. Along these roads one will see much evidence that a horse pulled a buggy by “following the exhaust” or as others have said “look out for the road apples” or “be careful about the “alfalfa emissions.”

What is unusual to the uninformed is that each business in Amish country has a “hitching post”. At these locations the “exhaust” adds up so the city hires a “road apples” picker-upper.

These “items” are then deposited in a common pile with a sign "free manure”. I think the sign should read: “For Sale- Alfalfa Emissions For Your Garden”. We noticed that the deposit doesn’t last long as people come by and pick it up. Sell it and make some money.

About The Amish.....

Interesting Information About The Amish.....

Mennonites came out of the Reformations and started in 1536, Hutterites started in 1528 to live in communes to this day and Amish brokeoff from the Mennonites in 1693 to live a simple life.

Amish use many forms of technology, but carefully control anything that would tend to connect them to the world.

The use of horse and buggy is to keep the life simple and close to home. A horse range is about 10 miles and can be gone from home for hours without water. In fact, a horse is very reluctant to drink water from a strange pail unless extremely thristy.

Only about 5% of Amish businesses fail compared to about 50% for all others. Others farm and many work in the RV industry. A Amish couple we had dinner with had 30,000 chickens

The typical Amish family has seven children.

Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch that originated in Southern Germany, and converse in High German in church and their chilren learn English upon starting school.

The Amish go only through the 8th grade.

Amish youth are generally baptized about age 18-21.

Amish don’t have electricity as that would connect them to the outer world. Same with telephones although their Bishops are allowing cell phones if kept out side the house

Amish young people are outgoing and friendly. A romance between young persons may begin when a young man asks to take a young woman home after a youth group singing. There are no arranged marriages.

Some more rowdy Amish youth experiment with “worldly things” like going to the movies, buying a car, wearing English clothes, smoking and drinking. The is called “rumspringa” which means “running around”. They must give it all up when they join the church and about 90% of them join the "house-church"

The Amish pay taxes as everybody else, however are exempt from social security.

Many Amish practices are not based on the Scriptures but are simply a conscious effort to avoid being part of the world’s culture.

The Amish begin to grow a beard, without a mustache, after marriage, however, with some groups the beard comes after baptism.

Each Amish church district meets bi-weekly in their homes and services are rotated between all houses in a district. Each district is comprised of 25-40 families. When it gets larger they divide up. That way every one can fit into a house. Widows do not have to host house meetings as the cost of feeding that many is expensive. Services last all day.