Wounding And Healing Of Desire

Wendy Farley (WJK author of ‘Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion: A Contemporary Theodicy’ 1990 has written a unique manuscript that considers human life from the perspectives of the wounding and healing of desire. “Desire” as that which longs for connection, home, beauty. We yearn for these things but in so doing attach ourselves to things unworthy of our longing. We are in “bondage” to those things that ultimately prevent humans from flourishing or fulfilling their desires. Contemplation, prayer, and love are ways one can be freed from bondage and find the fulfillment of our desires in God. We are then opened up to the world and drawn into struggles for justice and well being for all people. This is a passionate, moving account that draws strongly on Christian meditative and mystical spiritual traditions–sources that are not often tapped in traditional Christian theology.