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By Root 521 0

have not seen each other, or spoken face-to-face, in more than twenty years. But he was and is still one of the most important people I have ever encountered. When the chips were down, he did not hesitate but waded into the darkness to lead a lost soul to the Light.

He will always be my friend. Perhaps one day we’ll meet again as brothers.

In the years that have passed since I last saw him, I have tried to do to others as he did to me. Meet people where they are. As they are. To reflect Christ’s love, without judgment, in the messy details of everyday life.

And it’s not as if my own life hasn’t been messy at times during those years. It has been, now and then, sometimes brutally so. Mostly as a result of my own choices.

But God is who he is. Forever. Unchanging. And always there, even when he doesn’t seem to be. This I have learned. And this I know. Ultimately, I rest in that knowledge.

And if my readers glean only one thing from my story, I hope that’s it. That God is there, even when he seems far away.

Today, I reside in a quiet place. A place of calmness and rest and of acceptance of who I am. A place of gratitude for the miracle of life in each new day.

And even though they no longer claim me as one of their own, I deeply respect the people connected to me by blood or background—the Amish. Their culture and their faith. With all their flaws. And all their strengths. They are still a part of me and will always be. Even so, I would never dream of returning.

Ever.

I have no regrets for the road I chose. And I rarely wonder how life would have been on the road not taken.

About the Author

Ira Wagler was born in the small Old Order Amish community of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. At seventeen, frustrated by the rules and restrictions of Amish life, Ira got up at 2:00 a.m., packed his duffel bag, left a note under his pillow, and walked away. Over the course of the next five years, Ira would return home and leave again numerous times, torn between the ingrained message that abandoning one’s Amish heritage results in eternal damnation, and the freedom and possibilities offered by the English world.

At age twenty-six, Ira left the Amish for good. He is currently general manager of Graber Supply, LLC, and Pole Building Company in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.