By M.L. Cofell

There are people and places in life, that when visited, make you feel alive. You walk away with a sense of melancholy because you really don’t want to leave. You want time to slow down and linger just a little bit longer, to savour every moment.

Photo by Neville Palmer

When I was about 10 years old, I went with my school class on a field trip to a local Hutterite Colony. I remember being fascinated by the people, the smell of fresh bread in the kitchen, and the smell in the pig barn too! I didn’t really understand why we were there and what I was supposed to walk away with – but I was happy to be out of the classroom for the day.

Fast forward about 20 years or so, and I once again found myself at a colony, only this time I was being embraced into a family, not just a young tourist on a day pass from school.

I was nervous about this visit. My husband had met a few members at the colony while documenting Alberta in its Centennial Year. I can remember blasting him with questions, like. “What do I wear? Can I put on makeup? Jewelry? What will we be eating? Do we take wine? White or red?” Oh the stress of it all!

We did not dine in the colony kitchen that day, but rather around a small table in the home of Jerry and Magdelenea Stahl and their three children, Amanda, Jeffery and Jerald. In that afternoon, I was introduced to the colony, their beliefs, the communal approach they have to living, farming, eating and caring for one another.

That meal forged a friendship, not only with Jerry and Magdelenea, but also with the entire colony. We have since been privileged to be included in a number of wedding celebrations, met several new additions (both human and animal), and spent countless afternoons enjoying coffee, cake and laughter.

Recently, I spent an afternoon with Magdelenea and Amanda in Bragg Creek. It was the first time in several years of friendship that we were out on the town, instead of in one our homes drinking coffee. When Magdelenea got out of the car, she adjusted her headscarf and asked if she embarrassed me. I was shocked by the question because I don’t think of Magdelenea as a Hutterite – she is simply my friend who happens to be a Hutterite. She could be purple with yellow polka dots and I would feel no differently.

People are funny. We fear things that are different, or things we don’t understand. But Hutterites are not a complicated puzzle. They choose to live simply and work for the good of the whole colony instead of for their own individual gain. This philosophy gives each member a sense of purpose, a feeling of belonging and a peace that is only the stuff of dreams for most of us.

This experience with my dear friends reminds me of something Mother Teresa once said: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”