Community Preserved

We are visiting our son in Lexington, Kentucky this weekend. Today we went for lunch at a nearby National Historic Landmark, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. It is the largest restoration of a 19th century Shaker village, preserving 34 original buildings on 2800 acres. The site is a beautiful, stark tribute to the simplicity for which Shakers are known, and their quaint greeting, "We make you kindly welcome," captures some of its charm.

An eighteenth century offshoot of English Quakers, they were eventually called the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. Under the leadership of a woman, Mother Ann Lee, the Shakers brought their unorthodox faith to American shores in 1774 in search of religious freedom.

Their movement, numbering perhaps 6000 adherents at its peak, lifted up perfectionism, belief in the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God, simplicity, beauty, and charismatic worship styles (hence the name Shakers, a somewhat derisive reference to their practice of ecstatic movement in worship). Music was an essential component of Shaker life. They wrote over 20,000 hymns, including the popular tune, "Simple Gifts." Today just a handful of persons identify themselves as Shakers--belief in celibacy tends to limit the passage of the faith to the next generation. But the spirit of the people is preserved in places like this village. Many come to see.

I think the popularity of historic sites such as this is driven by our yearning for community. We view the closely-manicured lawns, the gleaming white fences, the stately brick buildings, and we wonder longingly what life might have been like.

The preserved images are incomplete, of course, and undoubtedly glossed over for the tourist trade. But what we respond to is a people who stood for something, lived their lives accordingly, celebrated their shared faith with music and dance, and who left a legacy for others to see. We do not have to embrace their millennial theology or their social philosophy to appreciate their commitment to community.

The Shakers left us some simple gifts that speak eloquently to our complex and divided world. It is good that the sites are preserved. It would be even better if we learned its lessons and embraced its visionary spirit.
community