Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (17 page)
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Authors: Donald B. Kraybill,Steven M. Nolt,David L. Weaver-Zercher
BOOK: Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy
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Compiled in Dutch in 1660 by a Mennonite minister,
Martyrs Mirror
was later translated into German and English. An Amish publisher sells several hundred copies each year in both German and English. Despite its dense and often difficult prose,
Martyrs Mirror
is widely known in Amish circles and can be found in many homes. Its message reinforces the distinction between the church and the world, and confirms the Amish concern about putting too much trust in worldly authorities.
Martyrs Mirror
was later translated into German and English. An Amish publisher sells several hundred copies each year in both German and English. Despite its dense and often difficult prose,
Martyrs Mirror
is widely known in Amish circles and can be found in many homes. Its message reinforces the distinction between the church and the world, and confirms the Amish concern about putting too much trust in worldly authorities.
Martyr traditions are hardly unique to the Amish. Many religious groups and some political movements have honored heroes who died for noble causes. But the memory of martyrs has often been used to fuel revenge. Whether in sixteenth-century Protestant stories of the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, which incited French religious conflict and justified retaliation against Catholics, or in the rhetoric of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade at the turn of the twenty-first century, a powerful impulse ensures that undeserved deaths are repaid in kind.
Rather than fueling retaliation, however, the Amish martyr heritage nourishes an ethic of nonretaliation and love of enemy. From the beginning, the Anabaptists believed that “their martyrs were true Christian martyrs, [precisely] because Anabaptists had not shed the blood of other Christians, as had Catholic and Protestant officials,” historian Brad Gregory observes. They were true martyrs, in part because “they had persecuted no one.”
Through the years the Amish have remembered the martyrs’ experiences as examples of self-surrender to be emulated, not as scores to be settled. Indeed, in recently published reflections on Anabaptist martyr hymns, one Amish minister warns fellow Old Orders against any temptation to blame today’s Catholics for the persecution that Amish forebears suffered, often at the hands of magistrates loyal to Rome. Not only, he writes, is there “no point made in accusing any church of today for what happened four and five hundred years ago,” but the very act of using a martyr memory to find fault with others negates the message of humility and forgiveness that the stories are supposed to teach. “Shouting down the beliefs of other people is surely not what we are here on earth for,” he insists. “None of us can be sure that we have all the truth.” Instead, “what needs to be deplored and regretted is the abuse of power that almost always goes with [any] group of people having the upper hand.”
The self-surrender at the heart of
Gelassenheit
cultivates Amish forgiveness. In a study guide published by an Old Order Amish press to accompany
Martyrs Mirror,
the author draws the connection directly, asserting that “when the persecutors prepared to put them to death, the Anabaptists wanted to die as Jesus did, praying for their persecutors and forgiving them.” Both in the sixteenth century as well as today, their example “would have been a powerful encouragement to lay down one’s life in a spirit of forgiveness.”
Gelassenheit
cultivates Amish forgiveness. In a study guide published by an Old Order Amish press to accompany
Martyrs Mirror,
the author draws the connection directly, asserting that “when the persecutors prepared to put them to death, the Anabaptists wanted to die as Jesus did, praying for their persecutors and forgiving them.” Both in the sixteenth century as well as today, their example “would have been a powerful encouragement to lay down one’s life in a spirit of forgiveness.”
Forgiveness is a regular feature of
Martyrs Mirror
stories. Hendrick Alewijns, executed in 1569, connected God’s forgiveness of his own sins with his willingness to forgive his persecutors: “May God forgive you all [the] wrong you did against me, as I forgive you, and as I would have it done to me, in regard to my sins.” When an acquaintance betrayed an Anabaptist peddler to the authorities, the arrested man assured him that he would “gladly and from my heart forgive you for this, and it is my earnest desire that the Lord may have mercy upon you.” Sisters-in-law Maria and Ursula van Beckum echoed Jesus’ words on the cross, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and another martyr, Jan Watier, even asked his executioners to forgive
him,
in case Watier had inadvertently wronged them.
Martyrs Mirror
stories. Hendrick Alewijns, executed in 1569, connected God’s forgiveness of his own sins with his willingness to forgive his persecutors: “May God forgive you all [the] wrong you did against me, as I forgive you, and as I would have it done to me, in regard to my sins.” When an acquaintance betrayed an Anabaptist peddler to the authorities, the arrested man assured him that he would “gladly and from my heart forgive you for this, and it is my earnest desire that the Lord may have mercy upon you.” Sisters-in-law Maria and Ursula van Beckum echoed Jesus’ words on the cross, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and another martyr, Jan Watier, even asked his executioners to forgive
him,
in case Watier had inadvertently wronged them.
Others awaiting execution wrote to their families with directives to forgive those who were about to take them from their loved ones. From his prison cell Jan Wouters sent word to his wife to pray for and forgive the person who had captured him. Refusing to forgive would place her in divine danger, he feared, because it would “prevent the Lord . . . from forgiving your debt; hence I beseech you to forgive it from the heart. And pray for them that afflict you . . . for we daily need forgiveness, because we are frail.”
Nonresistance, humility, and forgiveness blend together in the Old Order spirit of
Gelassenheit
. “Forgiving the persecutors at the moment of death was the final act of following Christ during one’s lifetime,” according to the Amish study guide. “Christ did not use the sword during his life, nor did He resist with the sword at the time of His death. Rather, He forgave His enemies.” In the Amish mind, to love one’s enemies, as Jesus taught, surely means forgiving them as well.
Gelassenheit
. “Forgiving the persecutors at the moment of death was the final act of following Christ during one’s lifetime,” according to the Amish study guide. “Christ did not use the sword during his life, nor did He resist with the sword at the time of His death. Rather, He forgave His enemies.” In the Amish mind, to love one’s enemies, as Jesus taught, surely means forgiving them as well.
As we asked Amish people about examples of forgiveness, many of them mentioned a story “about the guy who ran across the ice.” Although not everyone could recall the story’s details, all knew the general outline—and the Amish moral—of this dramatic
Martyrs Mirror
account of self-sacrificing love for one’s enemy.
Martyrs Mirror
account of self-sacrificing love for one’s enemy.
The guy who ran across the ice was Dirk Willems, a Dutch Anabaptist from the village of Asperen who was arrested in 1569 for being baptized as an adult and allowing forbidden religious gatherings to be held in his home. Jailed in a palace-turned-prison, Willems escaped by knotting rags into a rope and lowering himself out a window of the castle. But his getaway would not be easy. A guard noticed the prisoner’s flight and began pursuing him, apparently with the mayor in tow. As they ran, Willems came to a frozen pond, and although he made it safely across, the ice was beginning to break up with the spring thaw. The hapless guard fell through the ice, however, and began to sink. Fearing he would drown, the guard cried out for Willems to turn back and rescue him.
Here Amish storytellers often pause for effect: listeners are to consider Dirk Willems’s options and reflect on their own ethical instincts. Did the guard’s fall through the ice provide a path of escape, a providential means of saving Willems, for which the Anabaptist escapee should praise God? Should Willems keep running and leave the mayor to save his employee from the icy waters? Was it even practical for Willems to try to help his pursuer, since the pond’s surface might easily collapse under his weight and leave them both to drown?
The narrative tension only increases as the story continues. Willems stopped, turned around, and went back to save his pursuer’s life. Willems literally extended his hand to his enemy and carefully pulled him to safety. Unlike stories commending soldiers who sacrifice their lives for their comrades or parents who forfeit health and wealth for their children, this story lauds a man for risking his life for his mortal enemy.
The story’s conclusion drives the point home: no sooner had Willems saved the guard than the mayor caught him and insisted on having him burned at the stake. The execution was bungled—a strong wind briefly blew the flames away from Willems’s upper body—but that only made his death more torturous.
Martyrs Mirror
reports that the wind carried Willems’s voice to the next village, where residents heard him cry out more than seventy times. “Seventy times!” the
Martyrs Mirror
study guide underscores. “Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive one who sinned against him seven times, and Jesus said not seven times, ‘but seventy times seven.’ Dirk forgave his enemies many times.”
Martyrs Mirror
reports that the wind carried Willems’s voice to the next village, where residents heard him cry out more than seventy times. “Seventy times!” the
Martyrs Mirror
study guide underscores. “Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive one who sinned against him seven times, and Jesus said not seven times, ‘but seventy times seven.’ Dirk forgave his enemies many times.”
This striking story of forgiveness and love for one’s enemy has become the classic Amish martyr story, memorialized not only in
Martyrs Mirror
but also in the Amish periodical
Family Life
. An embellished version titled “Dirk Willems and the Thief Catcher,” in the curricula of Amish schoolchildren, implicitly asks students to identify with the man who turned back to do good to the one who was trying to harm him.
Martyrs Mirror
but also in the Amish periodical
Family Life
. An embellished version titled “Dirk Willems and the Thief Catcher,” in the curricula of Amish schoolchildren, implicitly asks students to identify with the man who turned back to do good to the one who was trying to harm him.
The Bible and
Martyrs Mirror
are the primary forgiveness texts in Amish life, but children learn stories of forgiveness from their schoolbooks as well. The vast majority of Amish children attend Amish schools, where teachers reinforce the church’s values through curricula that parents have helped to shape. Many schools use Pathway Readers, a set of textbooks published by an Old Order Amish press that bear titles such as
Living Together
and
Seeking True Values. Our Heritage,
the last volume in the series, is used in the eighth grade, the final year of Amish education.
Martyrs Mirror
are the primary forgiveness texts in Amish life, but children learn stories of forgiveness from their schoolbooks as well. The vast majority of Amish children attend Amish schools, where teachers reinforce the church’s values through curricula that parents have helped to shape. Many schools use Pathway Readers, a set of textbooks published by an Old Order Amish press that bear titles such as
Living Together
and
Seeking True Values. Our Heritage,
the last volume in the series, is used in the eighth grade, the final year of Amish education.
The cover of
Our Heritage
features a drawing of chains and shackles, an image of imprisonment and an allusion to martyrdom. Dozens of stories, arranged in sections such as “The Way of Love” and “People Who Served,” explicitly teach nonresistant love and encourage the practice of forgiveness. For example, “Peter Miller’s Revenge” tells the tale of a nonresistant Christian named Peter Miller who lived during the time of the American Revolution. “Miller and his friends could not conscientiously take part in war, nor could they take sides,” the story explains. “They strongly believed war was wrong but they never refused to help a man in need, whether he was a British soldier or an American.” The narrative then introduces readers to Michael Whittman, a man who considered Miller “a stupid fool” for his nonresistant position and repeatedly harassed him.
Our Heritage
features a drawing of chains and shackles, an image of imprisonment and an allusion to martyrdom. Dozens of stories, arranged in sections such as “The Way of Love” and “People Who Served,” explicitly teach nonresistant love and encourage the practice of forgiveness. For example, “Peter Miller’s Revenge” tells the tale of a nonresistant Christian named Peter Miller who lived during the time of the American Revolution. “Miller and his friends could not conscientiously take part in war, nor could they take sides,” the story explains. “They strongly believed war was wrong but they never refused to help a man in need, whether he was a British soldier or an American.” The narrative then introduces readers to Michael Whittman, a man who considered Miller “a stupid fool” for his nonresistant position and repeatedly harassed him.
One day, as Miller was tending to a “half-starved” deserter from George Washington’s army, he learned from the runaway that Whittman was about to be hanged as a turncoat. Immediately Miller set out to intercede for his harasser, walking three days through deep snow to appeal directly to General Washington. The general patiently listened to Miller but then explained that Whittman had received a fair trial and a just sentence. Had that not been the case, Washington replied calmly, “I would be happy to pardon your friend.” “My friend?” exclaimed Miller. “He is my bitterest enemy!”
Washington was shocked, unable to comprehend Miller’s desire to request leniency for his enemy. Nonetheless, Washington issued a pardon and Miller delivered it to the place of execution in the nick of time. The story ends with another Amish lesson: the priority of action over talk. “‘Oh, Peter,’ Whittman sobbed, ‘How could you ever forgive me after the way I treated you?’ Dumbly Peter shook his head. He could not speak. And words were not needed.”
Not all the girls enrolled at the West Nickel Mines School would complete their lessons in the eighth-grade Pathway Reader. Yet they had already absorbed Amish values from their families, churches, and school—sources of teaching, example, and encouragement that reinforced one another.
On Sunday, October 1, children in Amish households around Nickel Mines would have heard Jesus’ parable of the servant who begged his master for forgiveness but then turned and refused to forgive a fellow servant (Matthew 18:21-35). This story, which is part of the Amish lectionary for the weeks prior to their autumn communion service, suggests that Christians withhold forgiveness at their peril. Families attending church that day would have heard sermons on forgiveness, along with allusions to the sacrificial love of martyr ancestors. Because church districts gather for worship only every other Sunday, families who did not have church that day would have read and discussed the Matthew 18 text at home. When the parents of a ten-year-old girl who would be wounded in the shooting asked her the meaning of the parable, she responded, “We must forgive others.”
The next day, when thirteen-year-old Marian asked Charles Roberts to shoot her first, apparently hoping to absorb his anger and save her classmates, her first response in the face of unprecedented risk was to sacrifice herself to save others. As an eighth-grader, she had already acquired the habits of
Gelassenheit,
habits that were so deeply ingrained that she could face her death with a courage that characterized the martyrs whose stories she had so often heard. Those values, deeply embedded in Amish consciousness, sprang into practice during the course of Roberts’s rampage—and in the forgiveness that flowed in its wake.
Gelassenheit,
habits that were so deeply ingrained that she could face her death with a courage that characterized the martyrs whose stories she had so often heard. Those values, deeply embedded in Amish consciousness, sprang into practice during the course of Roberts’s rampage—and in the forgiveness that flowed in its wake.
CHAPTER NINE
The Practice of Forgiveness
We are not always able to forgive. We have struggles too.
—AMISH MINISTER
T
o many observers, the swift and gracious response of the Amish at Nickel Mines made forgiveness look easy. The Amish people we spoke with, however, said that forgiveness is hard work that never ends. They also admitted that it is often more difficult to extend grace to those inside the church than to outsiders. Gid, a minister, admitted as much. “The hard part with forgiveness that bothers me is all the grudges that we have against each other in the church,” he said. “Sometimes it’s harder to forgive each other than it is [to forgive] someone like [Charles] Roberts. We have our own petty grudges.”
o many observers, the swift and gracious response of the Amish at Nickel Mines made forgiveness look easy. The Amish people we spoke with, however, said that forgiveness is hard work that never ends. They also admitted that it is often more difficult to extend grace to those inside the church than to outsiders. Gid, a minister, admitted as much. “The hard part with forgiveness that bothers me is all the grudges that we have against each other in the church,” he said. “Sometimes it’s harder to forgive each other than it is [to forgive] someone like [Charles] Roberts. We have our own petty grudges.”
The Amish recognize two things about forgiveness. First, they believe that God’s forgiveness of them is tied to their ability to forgive others. Second, they know that extending forgiveness to an offender is not easy. For both of these reasons, they devote significant energy to training their children in forgiveness and to learning how to practice it themselves.
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