dchs1955.org - Dorcas Lady Good

          We were a plain people. The architecture of our churches was plain. The clothes we wore were plain. Even the manner in which we lived our lives could be described as plain.
          Several Merriam-Webster definitions for the word "plain" might help to describe us. Definitions such as "lacking in ornament," "free of extraneous matter," "characterized by simplicity," and yes, in some areas, "lacking in beauty."
          My family moved to Dallas Center, Iowa, from a rural setting near Sandusky, Michigan, the summer I was going into fourth grade. My father had accepted the position of pastor of the Brethren in Christ Church in Dallas Center. As a family, which included my parents, three sisters, and one brother, we were very happy in our new setting.
          Dallas Center, Iowa, provided us a setting for wholesome living and our family thrived. If we did not go to dances, for example, that was our choice; not that we would have been unwelcome were we to attend. Even the fact that "plain" girls wore their prayer head coverings to school did not adversely affect their acceptance as persons of worth at Dallas Center High School. For example, my friend Nancy Jo Myers was selected as a member of the Queen's Court her senior year.
          In 1947, the Brethren in Christ Church, which had been worshipping in a very simple structure on the corner of Ash and 15th, took possession of the former Methodist Church located at 507 Hatton Avenue. This new setting with its magnificent stained glass windows provided for me an awakening...an awakening to beauty.
          The large window on the east wall was of Christ knocking on the door. The large window of the west wall was a cross on a rock in the middle of turbulent waters. Experiencing the morning sun streaming through the kaleidoscope of colors on a Sunday morning would add a new dimension to my life.
          I was to experience the immortal words of John Keats, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness."
          I sometimes wonder how different my life would be if I had not experienced the architectural beauty of that Methodist Church on Hatton Avenue in Dallas Center, Iowa, in the late 1940's to mid-1950's.
          I would leave Dallas Center, Iowa, and go on to pursue a career in the arts, specifically theater arts, and teach in the public school systems of three states: Indiana, California, and Kansas. But I would never leave the beauty I experienced in Dallas Center. There would always be the quest for beauty...on the stage, within my students, in my home, throughout my life.
          "Are you saying that you moved away from your plain background?" you might ask.
          "No," I would reply. "It is a part of who I am. Just as experiencing beauty in a Methodist Church is a part of who I am. Elements of that simple lifestyle will always be a part of my definition of "a thing of beauty.'"
          It was Italian artist Leonardo de Vinci who said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." I like that.