Befriending Our Desires

Desire is at the heart of what it is to be human. The power of desire, while embodied and sensuous, is God-given and the key to all human spirituality. Humanity is blessed with a deep longing that is infi nite in extent and can ultimately be satisfi ed only in God. This thoroughly revised edition of Befriending Our Desires portrays the intimate connection between desire and the spiritual journey. Drawing on Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Christian spiritual classics (with some reference to Buddhist spirituality), poetry, and other literature, plus personal and pastoral experience, Philip Sheldrake explores the role of desire in relation to God, prayer, sexuality, making choices, and responding to change.

Philip Sheldrake is professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality at Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas. He is also senior research associate of the Von Hügel Institute, St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, and senior research fellow in the Cambridge Theological Federation (Westcott House). Philip Sheldrake trained in history and theology and was awarded the DD (Higher Doctorate) in 2015 by the University of Oxford. He has taught and written extensively on Christian spirituality, is author or editor of seventeen books, and is past president of the international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.