Henri J. M. Nouwen once wrote: "We need loving and caring friends with whom we can speak from the depth of our heart. Such friends can take away the paralysis that secrecy creates. They can offer us a safe and sacred place, where we can express our deepest sorrows and joys, and they can confront us in love, challenging us to a greater spiritual maturity."

Madeleine L'Engle, author in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, and Luci Shaw, writer in residence at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, are soul friends who share with each other the adventure of the Christian faith. In this brief paperback, they give examples of their regular prayer conversations, many of them conducted over the telephone. As Luci Shaw puts it: "We hope you will join us, stand on common ground with us, as together we bring our complicated, busy, blessed, frustrating, rewarding lives to God, inviting and welcoming his help."

These soul friends worry about guarding their tongues, being productive at the expense of being fruitful, and loving the wrong way by being too possessive or too dominant. L'Engle and Shaw lift each other's spirits when they are down and try to discern blessings wherever they can. Both are concerned about finding God through people and celebrating the diversity of the human family. This primer on spiritual friendship makes it seem very appealing indeed!