Who doesn’t love a sing along????
While attending the Rocky Mountain Ukulele Festival in Durango this month, we (a few members of the Memphis Ukulele Flash Mob) had a late-night jam in our hotel lobby.
Much to our surprise, while we sang a gospel song led by Pete McCarty, one by one a few Amish guests were slowly drawn into the room. Pete, who is known for his jolly personality and rich deep voice, discovered a common bond, and touched by their presence, we sang one gospel song after another for over an hour. They listened to us sing, and with big smiles on their faces, they sang along too.
These Amish singing with us were from Shipshewana, Indiana, which is the third largest Amish and Mennonite community in the United States. They were visiting Durango on vacation. They took the train to Colorado.
The Amish are conservative Christians and they believe in a simple lifestyle, dress modestly, and live close to the land and without technology. They are known for building fine furniture sold all over the country.
After we sang together, they asked if they could sing us a song. They began chanting The Praise Song, VERY slowly in high German. They sang one verse, which took over five minutes. You can hear it here in this video. It's about 1:48 minutes in.
As little as we had in common, for a few minutes that night, we were all just the people of God.
