Amish for President!

Here's a story for FAV: People who actually live the Gospel! And they don't need TV cameras to do it. Revolutionary!

Like the rest of the country, I am heartbroken by the school shooting in Lancaster. But moreso because it happened in my state, about 60 miles from where I am. I've driven through that area many times - they have some funny sounding towns: Intercourse is right next to Bird-in-the-Hand and Paradise. Route 896 is a 2-lane scenic road with horse-drawn buggies ambling along, a speed freak's worst nightmare. The Amish invented shoofly pie, a gooey mixture of sweet stuff, named so presumably because you have to shoo the flies that swarm once the freshly-baked pie is put by the window to cool off. Being from the Keystone state, we have taken for granted that a whole different Amish world exists amongst us, not very far from The City of Brotherly Love (*sarcasm*) and its passionate Eagles fans and very own La Cosa Nostra.

What strikes me the most, although I am not really surprised, is the forgiveness that these folks have shown. It's human nature to be angry - and they have every right to be. But forgiveness is harder. Revenge is another human invention, but peace is harder to achieve. It takes the better angels in all of us to choose forgiveness and peace. You know, kinda like what that guy Jesus preached 2,000 years ago?

If only we could have an Amish to be the next president... But with the way these people have been giving the pimpin' press the middle finger (in a peaceful way, of course) by simply ignoring them, it will be hard to find an Amish who is worldly enough to deal with Washington and all its crap. But maybe that's what we need to be reminded of - that life was once simple and wars are totally avoidable and Madison Avenue can go to hell.

Lastly, Lincoln:

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.


Delia Gallagher