Life in a Christian Commune

基督教公社中的生活

Up First

2025-09-14

17 分钟
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单集简介 ...

As a young woman, Kate Riley’s search for meaning led her to a Christian commune. She lived there for a year and embraced collective life – everyone dressed the same and no one owned any private property. Kids growing up there didn’t have contact with cell phones or money. In this week’s conversation, Riley sits down with Ayesha Rascoe to explore what it means to be an individual in a communal place. And she shares what she learned about her own identity. These experiences informed her first novel, Ruth. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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  • I'm Aisha Roscoe and you're listening to The Sunday Story,

  • where we go beyond the news to bring you one big story.

  • Today, we're going to slow it down.

  • Sometimes life can feel nonstop.

  • If it's not one thing, it's another.

  • But whenever I get a bit of quiet,

  • I'll try and maybe do some coloring by numbers or I'll pick up a book.

  • Recently, I read a novel called Ruth,

  • and it stuck with me because of the questions it posed about the way we live.

  • The novel was written by Kate Riley,

  • who drew from her own experiences living for a time in a Christian commune.

  • It was a place where individualism was sacrificed for the needs of the community and the greater good.

  • Now that is far from what I personally desire,

  • but I was so intrigued

  • because Kate as a young woman went against that societal push towards personal achievement and instead went in like the direct opposite direction and sought out this quiet life.

  • One without a lot of thrills and distractions and It offered her a sense of purpose,

  • meaning and peace.

  • Something she hadn't found anywhere else.

  • And it was some of the happiest time of my life.

  • Kate grew up in New York City and