Genre:religion
Sub-genre:Christian Living / Spiritual Growth
Language:English
Series Title:Christian Poetry of the Sacred
Series Number:2
Pages:152
eBook ISBN:9798350911220
Paperback ISBN:9798350911213

Overview

USE CODE CHOOCH AT CHECKOUT TO SAVE 50% OFF THE RETAIL PRICE
The Greatest Longing is an opportunity, through poetry of the sacred, to consider the strangely odd and radical claims of Christian faith that God is "pazzo de'Amore," crazy and madly in love with each human person who has ever existed, past and present, and what such divine compassion means for our lives now, and our destinies forever. It is in the infinite ocean of God's love that we ask the great questions. Poetry can be a call to our sacred roots and values, our experience of epiphanies in the experiences of everyday, "ordinary" living. The Greatest Longing is a collection that affirms that truth, the good, beauty, and love are sacred, godly, and real beyond the "tyranny of relativism," de facto atheism and its dogmatic materialism, and the ideologies of nihilism of this age. Poetry of the sacred is a call and reminder that we are both dust and divinized beings all the days of our lives, beings with transient desires, but with an ultimate yearning, the greatest longing possible.

Description

What is the deepest hunger of the human heart? What does the soul long for when everything else falls away?

The Greatest Longing is the third book in Dr. Alan Altany's Christian Poetry of the Sacred series, a contemplative exploration of divine desire, human yearning, and the God who meets us in our deepest need.

Dr. Altany, a recently retired professor of Comparative Religions with a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, brings decades of theological reflection and literary craft to this meditation on longing, love, and the sacred. His poetry has appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, North Dakota Quarterly, Montreal Review, and other respected journals.

This is poetry for those who:

✓ Hunger for mystical encounter beyond surface religion
✓ Wrestle with faith, doubt, and divine silence
✓ Seek intellectually rigorous spiritual literature
✓ Want poetry that doesn't shy away from life's hardest questions

"Powerful poetry from a life lived, at times, at the extremes of God's grace and of his own weakness."~ Goodreads Reviewer

Ideal for:
- Contemplative prayer groups and spiritual direction
- Catholic university theology departments
- Readers of Commonweal, America Magazine, Christian Century
- Anyone seeking depth in Christian poetry

The Complete Christian Poetry of the Sacred Series:
1. Poems to God (2025)
2. Intimations (2024)
3. The Greatest Longing (2023)
4. A Beautiful Absurdity (2022)

Explore more at www.alanaltany.com

About The Author

Dr. Alan Altany recently retired as a professor of Comparative Religions and holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. His poetry has been published in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, North Dakota Quarterly, Montreal Review, Valley Voices, and numerous other respected literary journals.

As a Catholic contemplative poet and theologian, Dr. Altany's work explores the sacred in contemporary consciousness, intimations of God in ordinary experience, and the "beautiful absurdity" of Christian faith in a profane culture. His four-book series, Christian Poetry of the Sacred, represents a lifetime of theological study and spiritual reflection, offering intellectually rigorous, mystically honest verse for readers seeking depth beyond devotional platitudes.

Dr. Altany's poetry has earned a 4.9 out of 5 star rating on Goodreads, with readers describing his work as "powerful poetry from a life lived, at times, at the extremes of God's grace and of his own weakness."

His complete series includes: