Now, Where Was I....?
It's been over four years since I last posted on this blog. I apologize, but life got in the way of my writing, and I've been seriously distracted in these intervening years.* And of course, once I got out of the habit of writing and posting, it was hard to get the momentum going again. I think I'm finally at a place where I can resume my research and writing and hope to be more consistent in my posting of all things Haban.
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I stopped at an inconvenient place, right in the middle of looking at basic Hutterite beliefs and how they were or weren't reflected in the lives of Grandma and Grandpa and their descendants. I'll pick up where I left off, but some of you may want to review past posts to refresh your memories of where I was going with all this. I myself had to reread all I had written to figure out where I was headed in my narrative.
In the last several blog posts before my hiatus, we've taken a look at some of the Hutterite beliefs and how they have appeared to filter down into the family line and show itself in the more recent generations. (See the blog post from August 9, 2018 - "Believin'" - if you need a refresh on the beliefs that distinguished the Hutterites, or check the brief cheat sheet below**) We've looked at Grandma's love of reading the Bible, Grandpa's quoting of his wise mother's sayings a.k.a scripture verses ("Word!") and Grandpa's Hutterite-inspired draft dodging ("Put down that sword"). We've taken a virtual tour of the Haban areas of Grandma and Grandpa's hometowns and seen the houses and settlements they and their ancestors lived in in community, sharing all things in common ("We are all in this together."). Today we are going to look at the other areas of Hutterite belief less visible in the lives of Grandma and Grandpa.
Separation of Church and State...a radical idea
...No swearing (of oaths, that is...)
These two Hutterite beliefs were no longer plainly visible in the lives of Grandma and Grandpa's ancestors when they became Haban. I saw no strong manifestation of these two beliefs among my family members when I was growing up. Of course, separation of church and state, no longer the radical idea it was in the days of the European Hutterites, was a given in the twentieth century, especially in the United States. My grandparents would not have to choose it. It was chosen for them. And the society they lived in didn't require any swearing of oaths, except, perhaps, if they were called to give testimony in a trial, something I don't remember either of my grandparents having to do. Overall, I'd say they took gospel writer Matthew at his word and let their yes be yes and their no be no.
Ban 'em...
Obviously, Grandma and Grandpa had no authority to ostracize baptized believers from their company. Grandma, however, was always concerned about who my brother and I chose to hang out with. Were they good people of good behavior and character? Grandma was quick to judge anyone I was dating, and I've said I married my husband because he was the only one of a string of guys that finally met Grandma's approval. (There was one guy of dubious character I had dated who Grandma begrudgingly liked because he used to stop by after work and bring her platters of “leftover” deli meat and cheese as a bribe for her affections. “I like him, but I think he's a wolf,” Grandma decided. She had judged him correctly, and my relationship with him was short-lived.) On the whole, Grandma's attitude toward those she judged as not quite up to par was quite similar to Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy: “My good opinion once lost is lost forever." So, I guess you could say there was a mental ban on some people...
Leading the way...
When the Hutterites became Haban, their alligance was necessarily transferred from their organic leaders to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. As a child, we were taught to have great respect for the priests of our church. In the post Vatican II atmosphere in our parish, by the time we were in high school, we would hang out with the seminarians (pre-priests in Grandma's eyes) and be involved with service and social activities with the young priests assigned to our parish. They were friends to me and my brother, but they were still priests to Grandma and she watched carefully to make sure our friendships were always respectful.
Let's keep Communion...
Though the Hutterites did not believe communion to be the actual and literal body and blood of Christ, they held the celebration of the Lord's Supper in high regard. For them, this meant a once-a-year celebration of taking communion on the day after Easter. They considered this a highlight of their church year. One wonders what the Haban thought when they were forced into Catholicism and had access to the Lord's Supper every day. In our house, we went to church and received communion every Sunday. If Grandma could manage to drag us to weekday mass, we would receive communion more often. When Grandpa retired, Grandma would convince him to come to church with her almost every day. When he gave up driving, she would walk the scant mile to go to daily mass. A younger neighbor, her kids all in school, started going to church everyday because she said she felt guilty seeing Grandma walk past her house every morning when she herself had a car to drive her and the time to go as well.
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A careful reader of this blog will note that as I have looked at Grandma and Grandpa's connection or lack thereof to the nine basic tenets of the Hutterite faith, I have yet to delve into an important Hutterite belief, one that figured prominently into the Hutterites becoming Haban – the issue of infant vs. adult baptism. That deserves a blog post of its own...
*Some of the distractions: two unrelated cancer diagnoses, surgeries, treatments and long recovery times, a pandemic, two granddaughters born, dealing with a major sewer repair while preparing to sell a house, buying a new house and relocating, limping around for five months waiting for hip replacement surgery, and finally having the surgery and all the recovery time that entails. It's a good time to start writing again...
**Review of Basic Hutterite beliefs:
Word! -the importance of the Bible
Baptism – Adults only, please – no infant baptism
Separation of Church and State...a radical idea – no church/government cooperation
No swearing (of oaths, that is...) - no taking of oaths of any kind
Put down that sword - pacificism
Let's keep communion – reverent celebration of the Lord's Supper once a year
Ban 'em - ostracize those baptized adults that don't live a godly life
Leading the way – godly church organization and leadership
We are all in this together – communal lifestyle
