Learning to Live in England, Part 29: Amish Teens

We have been watching a fascinating and educational mini-series here entitled World's Squarest Teenagers about 5 Amish teens on Rumspringa in England.  That's Pennsylvania Dutch, doubtless a variant of the German herumspringen, literally, jumping around.  It's when Amish young people, before deciding whether to be baptized Amish, are allowed to go out into the rest of the world and explore, and experience other cultures and do pretty much as they like.

The first thing to which these teens were exposed was rock music.  One of the girls very astutely observed, 'It does something to my body I don't like.'  Right!  It stimulates the body, and if that stimulation is either unaccustomed or unwelcome, it can be annoying or even maddening. 

Then they were taken to a beach and saw bikinis for the first time.  One of the girls said she couldn't understand why girls would dress that way; surely it must cause unnecessary struggling for the boys.  I thought, 'Oh, you poor dear.  These boys don't struggle!  They don't even give in.  They go out in active search of it!'

The next thing they encountered was dancing, considered by the Amish the work of the devil; and of course it must be admitted that much dancing is.  An Amish girl asked her hostess why people did it, and the reply was, 'To make us feel good!'  this was totally incomprehensible to the Amish girl.  She gave an answer equally incomprehensible to her hostess:  'When I want to feel good, I go pray.'

You can watch the episodes at the like above, and I highly recommend doing it.  They illustrate, very graphically, the difference between a hedonistic, shallow, even meaningless life and a strict but meaningful one.  They illustrate the difference between true joy and 'fun' and how easy it is to be seduced away from the one in order to give oneself to the other.  They show what true beauty is; for these girls, covered up and innocent of any make-up, are nevertheless truly beautiful, true precious gems.