Amish Peace

Amish Peace by Suzanne Woods Fisher is one of the most thought-provoking books I read this summer. I have always found the Amish to be fascinating, and have read several novels about them, but this non-fiction book provides a closer look at their lifestyle and some of the reasons behind why they choose to live the way they do.

The sub-title is "Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World". I really appreciated the insight the author offered on ways we (as non-Amish people... or "English" as they might call us) can slow down and simplify our lifestyles to achieve more peace and less stress in our daily lives.

I highly recommend this book. Here's a little more about it:

Take a look around you. Everyone is rushing around with endless to-do lists and back-to-back deadlines, barely able to catch a breath. Everyone, that is, except the Amish. Living on the outskirts of modernity, the Amish are icons for a simpler life and a slower pace. It’s this allure—something of a sanctuary, suspended in time—that draws millions of tourists to travel to Amish country every year.

“The Amish are the only people I have ever known who seem to have a handle on inner peace,” says Suzanne Woods Fisher. Fisher recently published Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World, in which she explores the tranquility that marks their lives.
“It’s easy to get distracted by the buggies and beards and bonnets,” she says. “From the outside, the Amish can seem quaint and old-fashioned. But there’s much we can learn from them.” She would know because she’s spent most of her life alongside these people: Her relatives are members of the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church, which shares similar values to the Amish.

Interviewing dozens of Amish for her book to gain a deeper understanding of their steadfast peace, Fisher got a closer look into the daily struggles and triumphs of the Amish. She shares these touching, real-life stories in the pages of Amish Peace.

For example, she got to know some of the Amish families who lost children in the West Nickel Mines School shooting. Even in the face of that kind of tragedy, she saw how the Amish community found calm by trusting in God’s sovereignty. “We just have to keep going on,” remarked one Amish woman whose family members were among the victims. “People think we’re perfect, but we’re not. Yet we can’t dwell on what happened. We have to leave it in God’s hands.” That fundamental belief also enabled them to extend incredible, almost immediate forgiveness to the gunman and his family.

Through her conversations and interactions with the Amish, she looks at how their enduring peace is rooted in their appreciation for five key elements: simplicity, time, community, forgiveness and their faith. Whether it’s living with only necessities, spending time with family or learning that the world is larger than our feeble understanding, those attitudes provide the framework that allows them to find solace in spite of life’s unpredictable circumstances.

“We don’t have to ‘go Amish’ to find true peace,” Fisher says. “Instead, we can learn from the example they’ve set and incorporate some of their lessons into our own lives. That’s what Amish Peace is all about—being inspired by the best of the Amish way of life.”

Available October 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. If you buy a copy of Amish Peace, either online or at your local bookstore, on Monday October 5th you will be entered to win a basket of books published by Revell.

Once you buy the book send Suzanne an email (suzanne@suzannewoodsfisher.com) or leave a comment on her blog or Facebok page or email Amy (amy@litfusegroup.com) stating where you bought the book and how many copies you purchased.