What We Can Learn From The Amish Work Ethic

I grew up in the Amish, Mennonite country of south central Pennsylvania. Rolling hills with fertile ground made for excellent farming.

Sundays after church my dad would get us all in the car for a Sunday drive that would invariably take us into the heart of Lancaster county...Amish country.

Horse and buggies could be seen to and from Sunday go to church meeting houses, slowing up traffic along the way although we never seemed to mind. This is the day the Amish and Mennonites 'rested' from a long hard workweek. Having lived near these hardy people throughout my childhood I knew even Sundays were 'busy days' with little rest.

Work starts early at a Amish household with kids and adults up before the sun to do chores and 'get things done'. Breakfast comes later with a lot of eggs, scrapple, sausage, and bread. After the early work is complete and breakfast is eaten the children are off to school and the adults start the serious work of plowing and threshing and seeding. No tractors or electric will be found at an Amish household only horses with steel implements being pulled behind them. The women work tirelessly minding the garden with the 'little ones' helping too. Housework never ends from sunrise to sunset with rest coming infrequently. It is a long arduous day of work and precious little else.

The Amish cherish family and their way of life and give constant prayers and thanks to God. Most Amish families are large with deep-rooted beliefs grounded in strong moral and ethical values. If you spend anytime with the Amish you will quickly realize how physically fit they are. Hard work pays a good dividend. Without all the creature comforts of 'our society' the Amish thrive at work, with family and God.

We can learn from the Amish and Mennonites in as much 'life principles' grounded in ethical guidelines produces an environment for a strong body and mind.

I'm happy living in my Internet high tech world and am not ready to take a step back in time as the Amish now live but I do have an admiration for their lifestyle. Most of us could use some hard physical work rather then spending tedious, monadic time at the gym or at home on that dreaded treadmill. Hard work produces something tangible a real accomplishment and your body in turn becomes fit.

I now live far from my childhood home but I never did venture far from the Amish conviction that 'Hard work is good for the soul...and body'. n