My A-muse-ing Life

I was raised in a simple family, no electric, no running water.  We were known as the Plain People, people who wore plan clothes, turned our backs on things like electricity, movies, modern conveniences.  These things and more were considered to be evil by my people, hindrances to our faith and to our loyalty to our Father.

As I grew older, became the woman that I am today, I realized that not all which we feared was a hindrance  and not all which we accepted was helping.  I married young, married a man named Abel, who held my same beliefs, and bore to him five beautiful children.  Our children grew, as children do, and made lives for their own, leaving our small cabin in the woods for lives of their own.

As time went on, and it was just my husband and I, alone in our small cabin in the woods, I longed for visitors, longed for someone to visit.  One day, one cold snowy winter day, I got my wish.

Like all good Plain People, we lived in our little cabin without electric, no running water; with one exception.  When we had visitors, we would break out the generator, run the electric, turn on our pump to our well to give running water in the house.  I longed for visitors for that reason, for the convenience and the excitement of what power brought to our home, but at the same time, it felt so wrong, so evil to use such things.

But on that cold, snowy winter morning, we had several guests arrive to our home.  A young couple, with five small children; remind me of us in those days so long ago.  They had traveled from another group of Plains People, many miles away and they were cold and hungry and tired.  Our cabin was the first cabin they found so they sought refuge here.

I greeted them at the door, then shouted to Abel “Fire up the generator!  We got visitors!”  He hurried down the stairs and out the door.  I invited the family to take off their coats and warm themselves by the fire.  We made introductions, turns out the wife’s name was Naomi and the man’s name was Nehemiah.  The children were Rachel, Timothy, Peter, Grace, and little Joshua, oldest to youngest.  It wasn’t long before the lights were running in the house and the water was running freely in the sink.

Naomi gasped when she saw the lights and the working water in the kitchen.  “You are one of those?”  she asked.

I was startled by her question.  “One of those?  One of who dearie?”

“One of those!  Those people who use electric!  We took you for Plans People, by the look of the cabin and all.  Perhaps we should be going.”

I shook my head.  “Oh no, dearie.  We are Plans People, just use electric for our guests.”

Naomi shook her head.  “Oh no, I won’t have it!  I won’t have my children exposed to such nonsense, such evil.”

I sighed.  Abel was just coming back in the door and I called out “Cut it off, dear.  They don’t like it.”

Abel looked at me astonished, shook his head and walked back outside.

Naomi continued “All the same, dears, I think we will be going.  Thank you for your hospitality   Nehemiah, children!  We must go now.”

I watched as they began to collect their belongings.  “Don’t go, please! It’s nasty outside.  Stay awhile, and we will leave the power off.  There is lots to talk about.”

Naomi wouldn’t hear of it.  She soon had her family ready and marched them right out the door.  As bad as the weather was, I wondered how long before they would be back.