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Flirting with Monasticism

In the year between finishing seminary and my first job as an ordained minister, I wound up praying regularly with a group of Dominicans, and exploring various aspects of life in a Catholic order. I never expected this to end up in a book.  A significant part of my personal curiosity about Catholic life was bound up in my attraction to a man in the process of joining the Dominican order. However, with the thoughtful guidance and tireless editing of Dave Zimmerman from Likewise Books at InterVarsity Press, these stories from my journey are now told in Flirting with Monasticism: Finding God on Ancient Paths.

Each chapter includes an introduction to one aspect of life in a Catholic Order, a connection of that practice to my own Christian journey, and a piece of the story about the man I was romantically pursuing.

Appendices include the Augustinian Rule of Life, which is used by several Catholic Orders as a guide for community life and an interview with a young member of the order of the Sisters of Life in New York.

Free preview from Google Books

Purchase from InterVarsity Press

I have never read a gentler, more fully human or more candid story about the intersection of evangelical and Catholic ways of being the body of Christ on earth. Our tradition would be well served if there were more such stories and such Christian candor. –Phyllis Tickle

Karen Sloan is an emerging leader whose honest voice, thoughtful insight, personal vulnerability and theological generosity deserve respect and careful attention. Many sincere followers of Christ will, like me, feel a deep resonance as they read Karen’s story of coming of age in the context of passionate spiritual aspiration. –Brian McLaren