Lessons from the Amish
Millions of Americans, even jaded by a long series of school shootings in the last decade, were shocked when news of deadly violence at an Amish schoolhouse reached the headlines. But as the situation developed, it was impossible not to notice that the Amish community was reacting to the violence very differently than many expected. Jabe Nicholson, writing at Uplook Ministries, outlines some lessons we can learn from the Amish community’s stunning extension of forgiveness:
Such forgiveness seems almost unthinkable to Western society. And one reason, it seems, has been the attempts over the last century to eradicate the concept of sin from our collective consciousness. If sin, guilt, wrong-doing are no longer currency, what then of forgiveness? In a world filled with such senseless acts, forgiveness becomes the most senseless of all, if there is no such a thing as sin.
Nicholson sees a reflection of the divine in this sort of forgiveness–and hopes that the Amish’s example will point the watching world to true forgiveness in Christ.
