Beyond FORGIVENESS: An Amish Lesson in Living the Golden Rule

“Amish Mourn Gunman in School Rampage,” the headline read. I’d shied away from details of both the recent Colorado and Pennsylvania school shootings, but this article I had to read. And I’m glad I did. The “quiet milkman” who shattered the lives of so many last Monday left behind his widow, Marie, and three young children. Marie Roberts probably did not expect to see any Amish mourners at her husband’s funeral today, but she saw dozens. A chaplain from Colorado, Bruce Porter, is quoted in the article. Porter had gone to Pennsylvania to offer his help, and was moved by this simple Amish display of grace. “It’s the love, the forgiveness, the heartfelt forgiveness (the Amish) have toward the (Roberts) family,” Porter said, adding that Marie Roberts was deeply affected by such a show of kindness. “She was absolutely deeply moved,” Porter said, “by just the love shown.” I’m awed by the simple yet profound message the Amish sent out with this gesture. Hopefully clergy across the country will be moved to present this example of how we all ought to treat each other from their pulpits this weekend. Hopefully we’ll all learn a thing or two from the Amish as we try to make sense of the senseless, and seemingly endless, stream of tragedies that plague our world.

Photo © Associated Press