I am all for you using machines, but do not let them use you. – Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (1874-1965)
Stay low, stay quiet, keep it simple, don’t expect too much, enjoy what you have. – Dean Koontz, American suspense author (1945-)
Last week was unnerving with continuous severe thunderstorm warnings. The first night I did my nightly reading while unusually loud claps of thunder and lightning strikes filled the window beside the bed. Noise and light lasted only a short while then moved on. The next night was a lesser version of the same. By mid-week more warnings but less thunder and lightning, more rain.
Each night I continued my nightly readings. Thankfully I downloaded some books on the kindle. If we lose power there’s no reading on the kindle. Nightly readings include a couple of chapters from the bedside Bible. From the bedroom bookshelves I pulled out another book. Most of the books on the bookshelves I’ve already read, but I keep the books because I like them enough to read again. That night I chose “Almost Amish” by Nancy Sleeth.
I have always been enthralled by a “living off the land” lifestyle. Even though I know I could not actually live that way because for one, I have no aptitude for homesteading arts. Secondly, I live with another person whom I love and who does not share the same homesteading interests. The great thing is the attributes we do have balance one another. It’s sort of a workable “living off the land” semi-lifestyle.
The Sleeths began to seek a healthier and simpler lifestyle. Nancy and her husband, Matthew, formed a faith-based environmental non-profit called Blessed Earth. Each wrote books, “Green, Save Green,” and “Serve God, Save the Planet.” The books led to speaking tours sharing the life changes they had made for a more livable life. Sharing changes that worked and those that didn’t.
At one engagement “a large man with a booming voice asked from the back of the room, ‘What are you, Amish or something?’” Nancy admits she was tired and offended by the tone of the man. She wanted to holler back, “Open your eyes! We arrived in a Prius, not on a pony.” I found it a bit humorous as Nancy was raised Jewish and was now thought to be Amish.
Oddly enough the comment catapulted Nancy into the idea of exploring what would an almost Amish life look like? Here’s some ideas: keep the home calm and uncluttered, a simple kitchen devoid of too many gadgets. Amish don’t use gadgets. They don’t have electricity.
Closet cleaning where few clothes take up a small space and little thought. Amish usually visit thrift stores, consignments, they sew, they share. The American family spends $55-$85 monthly on toiletries. Perhaps emptying a drawer or two. Organizing the attic, garage, and basement. “If someone else can use it now, why should we store it for someday?”
The use of technology is a hard decision but it’s all in how you use it. “We don’t have to do everything technology enables us to do-do we? We still have a choice on how we use them.” Maybe it’s just a matter of slowing down, evaluating and being a good steward of what we have.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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