Monastics
Following on from my introduction to the contemplative tradition in Christianity, my reading and exploration led me to some books by Brother Ramon [1], a Franciscan monk. In his book he described the Franciscan Third order. These were people who were not monks, but who desired to live out the Christian and particularly Franciscan ideals, in everyday life. A way of combining the devotional life of the monk with life in the wider world.
This middle way appealed to me as a way of deepening my prayer life and doing so with the companionship of like minded others. I explored the possibility of joining them and, as an aspirant, went to one of their meetings and also met up with a couple of people in the local area who explained more.
As it happened, for various reasons, I did not pursue this path but I retained my interest in what is sometimes called the “religious life”. Spending regular times in prayer and study, which is also a feature of Evangelicalism, is something I have always valued and something which has always stayed with me and I would miss it if it was not there.
- Brother Ramon, “The Hidden Fire”