'Tis a Gift to be Simple

In 1774 Ann Lee and eight other members of The United Society of Believers in in Christ's Second Appearing emigrated from Manchester, England to the New World - they settled on a communal farm in the town of Watervliet, New York.

Members of the Society believed in communal property, pacifism, celibacy, and the sacredness of work.

For their pacifism, the Society members were persecuted during the Revolutionary War.

For their communism, they face enduring criticism, though it was founded upon biblical example.

For their celibacy, they have almost vanished. There is only one community of the Society left in the United States. It has fewer members today then Ann Lee brought to Watervliet in 1774.

For their belief in the sacredness of work, they have become immortal. Hands that crafted in the service of God gave birth to a aesthetic of simplicity and elegance expressed in un-paralleled worksmanship. Today, we remember them only as the Shakers, and more people know of them as a style of chair then as a people.

But I do not forget their philosophy, and it's simple gift of understanding that work uplifts the soul as it glorifies God.