Amish America

Hypochondriac diseases will prevail...

I may have missed this before, but this is the first year I've seen the Calender printed in an English version as well as in the usual high German.

The bulk of the 88-page pamphlet, produced by an Ohio Amish printer, is a more-or-less comprehensive listing of Old Order Amish church districts along with their respective ministers.

The Calender/Almanac also contains a curious mixture of folk wisdom, Christian teaching, and astrology.

Astrology?  Sounds strange, especially for the Amish, but it seems to be the case.  For example, on the back cover, one finds a chart entitled Anatomy of Man's Body, As said to be governed by the twelve constellations.

                                                                                                                                 

Making Predictions

The 2008 Almanac also informs us that 'Jupiter is the Reigning Planet this year' and gives the prognosis for a range of topics:   

FISH.  Will everywhere be moderately abundant.

DISEASE.  In the Autumn headaches and hypochondriac diseases will prevail.

GRAPE CULTURE.  In the course of twenty-eight years it happens scarcely once--as the ancients say--that in one year of that series a good vintage will take place, and mostly but an ordinary wine will be produced.

The booklet also lists important days for the 2008 calendar year, including church feasts and the beginning and ending of the summer 'dog days', a listing of church readings and hymns, and Christian-themed poetry. 

It's curious to see the Amish distribute a guide with such a sizable dose of zodiac-infused 'wisdom'.

Though certain Amish may have had a history of buying into 'suspect' sources of wisdom--practicioners of the more 'hokey' medical practices come to mind--I'm not so sure the Amish take the astrological bit of the Calender so seriously, if at all. 

Since its much earlier incarnations, the almanac has typically contained folklorish bits of knowledge, good chunks of both astronomy and astrology, weather divination, and the like, and that tradition seems to have carried over into today's Calender.

Finally, the Calender/Almanac contains a fair dose of humor.  Here's a bit from this year's edition:

The mother of a 6-year old met him as he got off the bus and asked, "How was your school day?"

"Mom," he replied, "today our teacher asked me whether I had any brothers or sisters, and I told her I was an only child."

"And what did she say, dear?"

She said, "Thank goodness."

Feeling healthy, happy, and terrific

People often assume that the Amish, whom we think of as a people 'in tune with nature' and 'close to the earth' (which to some degree may be true, whatever those phrases actually mean) are strictly all-natural when it comes to the food they raise. 

In fact, on most Amish farms pesticides are put to use. Organic farming is something that is catching on in certain areas, but it's definitely a minority share of the Amish-produced milk on the market.  However, those that do take the trouble to go organic are rewarded with higher prices for their milk.  The supposedly healthier-for-you produce finds a slightly different market as well.  This sign is from the Amish community around Geauga County, Ohio.

To say that the Amish are into health supplements and alternative treatments would be something of an understatement.  Last time I was in Ohio, one couple I know fairly well was subtly promoting a new one for me, some sort of a pill which I believe contained an entire dried fruit, or at least all the vitamins and good things you'd find in one. 

I guess it was a time-saver thing, just pop one and avoid all hassle of eating a run-down-your-chin juicy peach or whatever it might be.  Actually these guys are still into eating regular fruits, I think the idea was more about upping the fruit intake without having to go through two bushels a day (which could potentially wreak major havoc on one's internals, so to speak).

Whenever I'm around, I usually pick up some sort of health supplements from a furniture maker friend in the same community, who sells them on the side.  Last time it was a Chondroitin-Glucosamine concoction that was supposed to fix up my bum knee.  Well, the bum knee went away as I used it over the summer.  Causality or coincidence, I cannot say.

In the Nappanee, Indiana community, as well as the Daviess County, Indiana community, a couple of Amish acquaintances run prospering health-goods and dietary supplements stores.  The new thing I've been seeing in Amish areas lately is Xango juice, a special brew made from the mangosteen fruit, and supposed to contain xanthones--'next-generation phytonutrients', with all sorts of intestinal, immune, and anti-oxidant benefits.  The stuff is potent, slickly-marketed, and expensive, at close to 40 bucks a bottle.

This photo, of an Amish Xango dealer's road-side sign, is also from Geauga County.

Why are the Amish so into the so-called alternative health market?  There seems to be some truth to the idea that the Amish go for things that tend towards the natural side.  I have detected a belief among some Amish that a lot of what modern medicine has given us to make us better actually may do the opposite.   Not a backwards-thinking mentality--the  typical Amishman when faced with a serious health issue is going to get in the taxi and get to the doctor--but perhaps more a healthy skepticism.  And I'm not one to knock that idea.

Raised Amish, headed to Med school

I quite liked this story on a Sugarcreek, Ohio man who was raised Amish and is now planning to attend medical school at Ohio State.  Obviously, it's not typical for someone who only went through eight grades to have such high educational goals.  In fact, Andy Yoder completed his GED and is now finishing his final semester at Goshen College in Indiana.

The first reason that I found this article appealing was that the family involved seems to have a healthy approach to the idea of their children not being members of the Amish church.  As Andy points out, in some communities people who leave the Amish are shunned...though here it is unclear whether Andy was baptized or not, which would make the difference.  The unbaptized, Amish-raised person is not supposed to be shunned.

Certain Amish churches in the diverse Holmes County, Ohio community are more permissive regarding shunning, while others are more strict.  In practice, certain families having both children that are members of the Amish church and ones that are not may consciously or unconsciously treat them differently, even favoring the baptized ones.

Across the nation, different Amish communities approach shunning differently. Click to read about the different types of shunning.

On the other hand, shunning is one of the main reasons the Amish have been growing at such a fast pace.  If the Amish begin to ignore the practice, it would likely result in decreased growth.  Shunning has been a major point of contention since the Amish group was led away from the Mennonites by Jakob Amman over 300 years ago.  And it remains a point of contention today between different Amish groups. 

The other reason that I liked the story was learning of Andy's plans--to study oncology and return to serve the Amish community.  While you may occasionally meet the home-grown Amish chiropractor or herbalist, the Amish depend on services of the modern medical community just like any other Americans.  Having someone that is fluent in their first language and familiar with their culture can only be a plus. 

Safety issues

I dropped in on Safety Days today, held at the Mount Hope Auction yards.


Most of the hundreds in attendance were Amish.  People slowly filed by educational booths promoting early learning, fire safety, and eye care.  One fireman admonished listeners to 'label their liquids' since children could not tell the difference between potables and more lethal liquids such as kero or diesel.

Besides the useful information, parents and kids could pick up freebies which included suckers and tootsie rolls.  The highlight of the evening was an 'educational mock crash' which was meant to involve a tractor and a lifeflight.  Unfortunately I had to leave just as the crowd was gathering to watch. 

Once of my few criticisms of the Amish is that with such large families, toddlers and crawlers are often left in the care of brothers and sisters sometimes only a few years older.  Little kiddos, accustomed to hanging around dad in the shop, can hurt themselves pretty easily with tools and horses and barbed-wire fences around.

Farm life, especially, can be tough.  I remember watching a little girl trundle around barefooted on a rusted, sharp-edged tin roof this summer in Pennsylvania.  Would my mom have let me anywhere near that type of situation?  No chance.  As one Lancaster farmer put it, quite frankly:  'the farm is a great place to raise a family.  But it is a dangerous place'.


It's not that I think Amish are intentionally negligent of their kids' safety.  I think that, especially on farms and in big families, it's just one of those things that is accepted as a part of life.  In any case, it was nice to see so many people interested in the event tonight. 

Surviving, with help

I just sat down this evening with a beaming blacksmith, a new father of his first little boy after many girls.

I'm doing interviews for a research project/book on Amish businesses.  'Eli', my seventh stop of the day, graciously shared his wisdom with me.

After our short talk I flipped off the voice recorder and we continued chatting over a 9pm black coffee (I've noticed that many Amish prefer coffee black.  Between all the church services and interviews I'm acquiring a taste for it too).

Eli, a hulk of a man with meaty hands that swallow yours when you shake, casually mentioned that he'd survived lymphoma.

 

Chemo was 'a nightmare'.  Eli forced himself to work half his normal schedule the four months the treatment was going on.  He's on his third year of remission, shoeing 10 horses a day.

I asked Eli if he'd ever heard of Lance Armstrong.  He had a vague idea, but not really.  I wasn't surprised.  Eli is a bit of a Lance for his family.

'The man upstairs' as Eli put it, is why he got through.  I have no doubt about that.  Eli's great physical shape and keeping his mind busy with work probably helped enable that too.

Eli's an interesting guy.  He's got lots of stories.  He claims he can blank out the screen of a cheap digital watch by putting it near his body, among other things.  I have no idea on that one. 

In any case I think we'll keep in touch. 

Letting your light shine

I have a friend here in Holmes County.  He’s relied on a wheelchair for some years.

 

Whenever I stop by ‘Aden’s’, I get a fresh dose of perspective. I don’t think I know a more positive person.

‘We have so much’ Aden tells me. ‘You can’t walk’, I think to myself. ‘How can you be this upbeat about life?’

Aden makes a choice everyday. He chooses to focus on the positive. He’s got a wife and daughter and a business he can operate from home. He’s got other family around that support him. He just built a home with no stairs, making getting around a lot easier.

 

 

Aden is not totally paralyzed. He can limp and hobble around his shop. A few feet this way, a few that, all the while leaning on tables and work benches that line the walls. His arms work great. But his battery-charged wheelchair has basically replaced his legs, zipping him between home and workspace.

Aden loves people. ‘That’s what it’s all about’ he says.

Aden is clearly focused on what’s beyond this life. ‘When Christ comes, we want to be with Him.  We don’t want to be left here.’

Aden expects the joy of heaven to be incomparable to what we have on Earth. ‘We won’t even be able to imagine it’.

Like many Amish, Aden is refreshingly non-judgmental. I mention how the Amish often have a positive impact on others through their example.

‘We are supposed to be a light for God’ he says.  But Aden knows that’s not just a role for the Amish. He says there are good people everywhere. We’re just born into different cultures, he explains.

If you wanted an example of a spiriturally convicted, uplifting person, I would point to Aden in a heartbeat.

He truly lets his light shine.

Another day of yuks with the Amish in Holmes County

Day Two in Holmes County was a great one.  I had a chance to catch up with a lot of Amish friends and acquaintances.

I sat for an hour and a half having a nice chat with one friend, 'Johnnie', who just had his fifth child (all girls!).  He gave me a bottle of homemade blackberry wine to take away.  He, like many Amish, appreciates the health benefits of homemade concoctions, having the occasional sip of wine at bedtime.

Johnnie admitted he wasn't a pro at making it, and sometimes had to throw out a batch.  He figures a lot of the taste variation can come from the quality of that season's fruit.  Johnnie also makes elderberry, strawberry, and red clover varieties.

Today they've got a wedding to go to.  Weddings are another occasion where you may see the odd bit of homemade wine.

Johnnie also recently planted a ginseng crop.  Most Amish are big on natural treatments.  I have another friend who sells natural supplements and vitamin concoctions.  I'll need to pick up some more from him today.  He swears by it for his joints and overall health.  I have to admit, the last time I was on the stuff I felt pretty good.

I also had a chance to drop in on a bishop and his wife whom I'd met a couple years ago.  'Vernita' was hard at work in the basement with a batch of strawberries, and 'Dave' had just gotten off work. Those two are quite the jokesters.

First they got a kick out of needling me a bit for my Polish ancestry.  But I had a chance to repay the favor.  Pointing at a rocking horse, Dave mentioned they had a new addition to the family, the first child of their son 'Adam'.

'Oh, I thought the horse was for you.'

Vernita chuckled and said that Dave would need to get started on his 'honeydew' list. 

'Yeah, honey-do this, honey-do that', Dave explained, as a smiling Vernita nodded vigorously.

'Doesn't that go both ways?  Don't you have a honeydew list for her?'

'I'll let her answer that one', Dave replied (wink-wink) cautiously.

After a nice visit I went to catch up with Adam down at the auction house in Walnut Creek.  True to form, a grinning Dave pointed out that if I didn't recognize him after two years, I could just look for 'the guy with the beard'.   

'The guy with the beard' in the world's biggest Amish settlement. 

Thanks, Dave.

The Sugarcreek Budget

The Budget is a vital print lifeline stretching across the diverse Anabaptist settlements of North and South America.

Founded in 1890, this weekly paper out of Sugarcreek, Ohio, serves as an information exchange for families sometimes separated by great distances and formidable technological barriers.

Budget 'scribes' regularly report on local happenings.  Their writings are listed under the home settlement's geographical header. 

Many of the placenames indicate traditional Amish/Mennonite locales in Pennsylvania, Indiana, or Ohio.  A number, however, come from further afield, distant lands such as Belize, Haiti, or Romania, likely originating from more adventurous Mennonite or Beachy Amish settlers.

Besides the local news, you can also find all sorts of neat things for sale in the Budget--wind-up watches, cloth diapers, and something called a 'no-crack' freezer container, to name a few. 

Ads in the Budget tell you where to get your 'superior cow cream' or even Himalayan Goji Juice, two items no doubt favored by Plain folk concerned for both their own and their animals' health.

Service providers advertise as well--again, many of them health-related.  Perusing a recent issue you'd come across info on hernia relief, Tijuana dentistry, and even the frightening-sounding colon hydrotherapy.

How's the weather in those parts?

Poems, children's sketches, and petitions for contributions for needy members enduring misfortune also feature prominently in the 40+ page gazette.

But on to the meat of it:  in the Budget, readers learn of all sorts of happy occurrences:  marriages and births and successful moves and good crop yields, to mention a few of the most popular topics.

The Budget conveys tragedy as well.  Readers of a recent issue learned of an Indiana organic-farm poultry barn burning down, resulting in the loss of 17,000 young fryers, and much worse--a young Amish father of six who died suddenly of a burst appendix in the same community.


And finally, the Budget brings readers the seemingly mundane:  A big chunk of letters begin something like 'spring is here and the weather is fine....', 'church was held at the Miller place...', 'the flowers are in bloom...' and don't really seem to say too much else. 

My old man happened to pick up an issue, and joked about how 'nothing' really seems to happen in most of the letters.  He wondered, just when do they find the time to write about the corn growing? 

I supposed that it might be what they do when they're not on the internet or in front of the tube.

And maybe that's just us taking a short view of it...with the weather playing such a prominent role in the agrarian-minded Amish-Mennonite world, it might come to mean the difference between prosperity and destitution.  At least it has in the past.

In any case, the Budget is a vital publication, anticipated and enjoyed by many in the far-flung Amish-Mennonite community.

It's a modern-day relic in a modern world of internet, cell phones and email, a throwback 'messaging system' for a 'peculiar people', of whom many still choose to rely on the printed word for basic news and communication.

Siss im blut

Siss im blut is PA Dutch for 'it's in the blood'.  It's often given as a reason when Amish and Mennonites talk about genetic problems in their midst. 

Amish and Mennonites have taken a practical approach to an unfortunate situation:  a cramped gene pool causing numerous genetic disorders, often popping up with a frequency unseen outside their tight communities. 

Amish communities have accepted outside help and have built centers to deal with conditions that are so rare that they show up in only a handful of individuals around the world.

The root of the problem can be explained by what is called the founder effect, whereby the genes that show up in a founding group's members show up disproportionately in later generations. 

With close intermarriage not uncommon and relatively few joiners to contribute 'fresh' genes, Amish populations are particularly subject to the founder effect. 

photo: eugene richards, new york times

Dr. Holmes Morton is one of a few specialists who focus on treating Amish and Mennonite genetic conditions.  He has given hope and help to many.  NYT recently did an extensive article on his work. 

Also: Another blog linking to an article on a genetic disease found among Lancaster Mennonites, who have used blue lights and liver transplants to save their young afflicted with Crigler-Najjar syndrome.

Amish Autism

A recent blog post I stumbled across takes on the controversial view that childhood vaccines and autism are linked.

Many have pointed to the Amish, who often forgo vaccination, and according to some have low-to-nonexistent rates of autism, as evidence of the link. 

Seems like much of the attention has focused on Lancaster County, with those in the know saying the Amish just don't exhibit the condition.

"I have not seen autism with the Amish," said Dr. Frank Noonan, a family practitioner in Lancaster County, Pa., who has treated thousands of Amish for a quarter-century.

"You'll find all the other stuff, but we don't find the autism. We're right in the heart of Amish country and seeing none, and that's just the way it is."

Others in this story point to the complete absence of autism among large numbers of never-vaccinated urban Chicago kids.

An interesting yet unresolved issue.  You can hardly object to the great good that has resulted thanks to vaccination programs. 

But it also raises the question of whether trying to protect against everything can actually harm us.   

Many Amish see vaccination as on the same level as formal insurance programs, which they abstain from.  The idea being:  God is in charge, and we will try not to pre-empt or refuse what he has in store for us--though that doesn't mean Amish won't seek professional medical care.  They readily do.

Bonus: click for the Amish and unusual illnesses

photo:  www.gurahumorului.org