Ephrata Cloisters
Ephrata, PA
September 2016
I've known of this cloister for 35 years. I saw it advertised on the highway and often thought I should visit there one day. I wanted to understand why people chose to live a cloistered life. So I finally did and was surprised to discover that it is not currently a cloistered community. Actually, it hasn't been a community for years. It is now just a museum.
Started in the 1700's, people came over from Europe and joined a community strictly around a common share of interest. So it got me thinking: what type of like-minded people would I like to live with? Common political views? movie goers? social justice advocates? beer kooks? And would I be willing to be cloistered for any of these values? And what would living with a narrow field of like-minded people begin to wear on me?
