Do you shave your beard? Do you eat meat? Do you wear makeup or jewelry? Do you find value in art or music? Do you drive a car? Why?
Have you ever taken the time to think about why you choose to take part in or abstain from these things? After staying with Older Order Mennonites in Barton Creek this past weekend, I am learning to do just that.
These Mennonites allowed CCSP students and staff to come into their community to experience their unique way of living through homestay visits. These homestays were the beginning of our second week of God and Nature in which we discussed the various motivations behind the ethical choices we make in our lives, in particular the choices we make that impact the natural world.
We arrived Sunday morning, pulled up to their wooden church in our white, fifteen-passenger van and parked next to a row of horse-drawn buggies. As we emerged from the van, we were like oil being poured into a pool of water. No matter how you mix it, the oil clump can’t blend in. The women were circled together on the left side of the church, wearing long dresses of plain dark colors and black scarves or bonnets over their heads. The men waited on the right side in a similar circle, wearing black pants, suspenders and dark-colored shirts corresponding to the women’s dresses.
It is customary to walk into their awaiting circle, to shake hands and say good morning, so we somewhat awkwardly did so. Though my own eyes focused on each new face I greeted, I could feel the stares of the others in the surrounding circle, especially the wide blue eyes of all the curious children. I can’t blame them one bit for their glances. I know I would stare too if a group of Mennonites walked into my home church.
As we filed into the church for the service, the women sat down on the left side while the men filled the pews on the right. The service began with a time of singing. Because they believe that musical instruments distract from sincere worship, they do not allow them in their church or in their homes. I doubt that we could have heard the sound of a piano or violin anyways over the nasally chorus of their voices. Though the sound wasn’t beautiful by any standard, their praise was certainly sincere! Clearly, they could care less about what their neighbors thought of their voices!
Following this time of singing, three of the four ministers sitting at the front of the church rose to bring their thoughts to the congregation. Each one, in turn, read a Scripture passage and then connected it to a handful of others like a runner passing off a baton in a relay. I must confess, I got lost in this race, as it seemed to go in circles and not really get anywhere. Perhaps, I could not focus because their liturgy is so different from the Evangelical Church I am most familiar with. However, in the course of the three hour service, as my own eyes wandered, I noticed that even among the congregation there were many blank stares, wayward glances, bobbing heads, and even occasional snores.
Each family brought sandwiches and cookies to share, so for lunch we had a “pot-luck” of sorts. Not only did we pray before the meal, but we also “returned thanks” afterwards. That was an interesting concept to me. I like the idea of thanking God for his provision at the end of a meal too because it can serve as a reminder that our true satisfaction is not from a stomach full of food but from him.
After the meal, we had a question/answer session facilitated by the ministers. During this time, the community members answered questions we had about their way of living. I learned, among many other things, that they are adamantly against divorce, that they find no use for any form of art, that dancing is unacceptable, that men should not shave their facial hair because it would alter a quality God deemed good to give them, and that technology tends to destroy one’s life.
After this discussion, we dispersed to meet our homestay families. Another student, Allison, and I stayed with the Penner family. They lived several miles from the church, so we took a buggy back to their home! Most Mennonite families are very large, partially because they take very seriously God’s command in Genesis to fill the earth and partially because they do not believe it is right to use birth control. The Penner family was unique in that the father and mother, Dena and Thomas, only had one child, Susan. Though they were in their early 40’s, Susan was only a little over a year old. They were married for 10 years before she came along, thus they cherish her life as an incredible blessing. Just like her mother’s black head shawl, Susan also wore a little white bonnet to cover her head, but several bright blond wisps had the guts to peak out around the edges, framing her blue eyes and chubby cheeks in defiance. The simple brown dress she wore during the entirety of our visit came to match the dirt she acquired on her tiny bare toes by the time we left.
While at the Penner’s home, we helped Dena cook, watched Susan play with plastic odds and ends on the floor (things like an empty white-out bottle, a bullet casing, an exacto knife without the blade and a turtle shell) and discussed the similarities and differences between our ways of living. I was struck most by the simplicity of their lifestyle. Their home was well-maintained and clean, but beyond what they needed for basic living, they had very few possessions. They see no inherent wrong in owning possessions or in using technology or electricity, but they feel that the use of such things causes us to desire more and more of what we truly do not need. Thomas explained it like this: It’s not sinful to have a tractor. However, the purpose of a tractor is to increase productivity. If you increase productivity you will need to buy more machines to help you maintain that productivity. You will be making more money, but you will be investing more money and more time in the process. In the end, your values shift and your family life will likely suffer.
Though perhaps impractical to promote a lifestyle free from ownership of possessions, technological advancement and electronic use in our own society, such use does seem to result in increased selfish ambition and decreased awareness of community.
As the sun went down on our first day, we ended our after dinner discussion and, with the aid of a kerosene lamp, climbed a flight of wooden stairs to bed. Dena even provided a cute little chamber pot so we wouldn’t have to go outside to the outhouse in the dark. Though it was kind of her, I thankfully didn’t have the occasion to use it!
Right away on Monday morning, we helped with the farm chores. I felt somewhat like Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie as we prepared to milk the cow, except as I sat down on the wooden stool, I saw palm trees in the fields, not prairie grass! For five minutes, I was quite proud of my efforts. The force of the milk filling the bucket made a happy splashing noise, and slowly the level raised to about a half an inch. As this was my first try, I felt it was an accomplishment, though as soon as Thomas took over, I could only laugh at my snail’s pace. He swiftly finished the job in just a few minutes and informed us that it typically takes him about 7 minutes to fill the five gallon pail!
Dena took us on a walk after breakfast to feed the chickens and tour their garden. She showed us their fields of broccoli, cauliflower, and Chinese cabbage, then plucked a dill plant for us to smell. I gave mine to Susan, and she happily chewed on it for the rest of the morning. Satisfaction with simplicity, I guess, even begins at her young age in this community!
We left Barton Creek early Monday afternoon. Like oil in water, we were still as separate from their lifestyle as when we arrived. However, after experiencing the way their faith so intricately affects their lifestyle, I was encouraged to think about the way my actions reflect my faith as well. Do all of my actions express the faith I hope to profess?
While visiting the Mennonites, we never really blended into their community. I hope that my faith and actions are more compatible than this clash of cultures. Faith, unlike oil in water, is not meant to be separate from lifestyle.
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not ave works, is dead."
~James 2:14-17~
