The 'Amish' Woman

One time I met a middle-aged woman with a large bunch of children, some her own physical children, some her adopted children.  Laura was friendly and we got to talking. She claimed to be Amish, and went to the Amish church but drove a van. Laura explained, "They (the Amish) want us to drive a horse and buggy like they do but some of our children are handicapped and we need to drive them to doctors a lot.  The Amish don't say anything to us."  OK, good.  Laura wore a cloth bonnet in the Amish style, no make-up, and a simple, mid-thigh length dress.  The children were dressed like everyone else's children.  Laura's husband sported a long, scraggly beard.

Later in the conversation, Laura mentioned, "I used to be a Catholic, but I didn't like the Catholic lifestyle." I didn't have an answer for that.  This comment has stayed with me, a life-long happy Catholic, for many years.  What exactly is a "Catholic lifestyle?"  We Catholic Christians are so diverse, so world-wide, so city and country, rich, poor and in-between, very educated, totally uneducated and in-between, there is no and can be no "Catholic lifestyle."

No one in our small church would have minded that Laura wanted to live in the country and have a lot of children. We had plenty of farm families in our congregation. My big bunch of children at that time, my husband and I lived in the city.  We didn't have a van but had a big old station wagon. Some of the ladies wore make-up, some used a lot, some never used any.

After mulling this over for about thirty years, I've concluded that it was not the "Catholic lifestyle" that induced Laura to seek another church, it was her choice to not follow the Catholic teachings.  OK, good, this is between Laura and God.  I never saw her again but know she is deceased.  I know that somehow, she and God worked this out.

Lord, the older we get, the more most of us count on you.  We want everyone to know about how much you love us.  Help us face reality in every aspect of our lives.  Please help us know the true church in which you would like us to give public worship to you!