in medias res

If You Don't Know How to Pronounce "Lancaster," Get Your Cameras Out of PA

I always get excited any time I see something written about the Amish or the Mennonites. Weird Al Yankovich, Kingpin, the Simpsons, Hallmark movies*…Now, under these circumstances, I wish it would stop.

For me, being raised Mennonite is more of a cultural distinction than a religious one. My parents helped start a Mennonite church that eventually dropped its name; few in Charleston understood “Mennonite.”***(see below) Even though I never lived in Iowa, I always said I was “going home” because it was to the community that always felt a little more like home and was consistent with the ways my parents tried to raise us.

“Going home” to Iowa required adjustments. My mom and I would take off make-up and jewelry during the last hour of our 19-hour trip home. I had to wear longer shorts and more crew tops. No television and "secular" music. To entertain myself, I would explore the storage room for old pictures, clothing, and clues to the short lives of my two uncles who died as children. I still try not to get stuck outside by the old barn when it’s dark.

I feel equally close to the Amish church because I am only one generation away from being raised sans electricity and telephones. My maternal grandparents left the Amish church soon after they were married, but they maintained very close ties to their Amish relatives and neighbors. My grandfather, a Mennonite pastor, would take me to sing at the elderly care facility where he also worked. It wasn’t until I was older that I appreciated the resonance of his voice from the pulpit. My grandparents and their house has changed very little in the past twenty years. Old trinkets are still appreciated on the well-dusted shelves. My grandma still uses the same patterns to make her dresses. She keeps a bulletin board archive of every family Christmas picture she has received for at least five years.

The priorities of my extended family was always a check on my “vertlicht” (sp? “worldly”) ways. We focused on fellowship and food. All three meals were a production that would last until the dishes were picked clean by wandering forks or until the stories ran out. Between meals, we grazed on brownies, chocolate peanut butter balls (buckeyes), vegetables, pickles, bread and jam, cheese, ice cream still icy from the churn – all were homemade. My family has perfected the art of the casserole. They were the original organic farmers. The Hostetlers in Iowa were different from the Hostetlers in South Carolina.

When my mom called twice yesterday, I knew what it was about. For her, the Amish/Mennonite world has always been the antithesis of everything beyond where the horse-drawn buggies run. Had I grown up there, I “never would have seen too much too soon, learned those awful words and a lack of discretion, tried to dress like that, dated a boy like that, learned to dance like that…” For her, the lines have always been clear, and home has always been a safe retreat. It’s where we should have grown up. Now, it is no longer safe.

It’s not just the violence of Charles Carl Roberts. Something feels very wrong in all of the news coverage of a community whose religious beliefs forbid photography. (“Thou shalt have no graven image.”) Those selected by the media as spokespeople for the Amish church – Ruth Irene Garrett and Tom Schachtman, among others—are not respected by Mennonite and Amish communities because they have tried to profit off of sensationalizing the Amish. (Garrett grew up in the same community as my parents.) I want to block the cameras, but, like everyone else, I also cannot look away.

I think I’m also a little jealous over them. They’re part of my heritage. I’m afraid of them changing. I’m also a little afraid of them not holding up under the scrutiny. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. Their only response, as they bury their daughters and sit in the hospital rooms, has been “We forgive .” It makes no sense. Then again, grace never does.

*If you watch Harvest of Fire, you will see many of my relatives on screen and in the credits. My grandpa has a scrapbook of signed photos and bits and pieces from the production in Kalona, Iowa. It's cute.

***Quick history: Mennonites are similar to Protestants, and came out of the same division in the church. The difference is that Protestantism was based on political and spiritual issues; Mennonitism was only spiritual. Mennonites are usually distinguished by believing in baptism upon confession of faith – as opposed to infant baptism, and pacifism. Varying degrees of conservative dress and a denial of material goods are found throughout the Mennonite church. The Amish church grew out of the Mennonite church in the 1690’s. It was in an attempt to preserve rural life, return to the original teachings of the Mennonite church, restore discipline, and to avoid materialism. The practices they developed are to these aims.

Coming Soon: Brandy's Wedding and my Mom's 50th, The Fair and Other Adventures From My Recent Trip to Memphis, Long Car Rides, and Mike Shot an 89 Yesterday...

posted by tara @ 10:32 PM