“The constant reprimands made me hyperconscious of my own performance, and so instead of getting rid of self, I had become embedded in the egoism I was supposed to transcend. Now I was beginn...”
Work
<b>The moving story of her own search for God by the highly-acclaimed author of the bestselling <i>A History of God</i>, <i>The Battle for God</i> and <i>Islam: A Short History</i>.</b><br><br>In 1969, after seven years as a Roman Catholic nun—hoping, but ultimately failing, to find God—Armstrong left her convent. She knew almost nothing of the changed world she was entering, and she was tormented by panic attacks and inexplicable seizures. Her struggle against despair was fueled by a string of discouragements—failed spirituality, doctorate and jobs, fruitless dealings with psychiatrists—but finally, in 1976, she was diagnosed with epilepsy and given proper treatment. She then began the writing career that would become her true calling, and as she focused on the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, her own true inner story began to emerge. She would come to experience brief moments of transcendence through her work—the profound fulfillment that she had not found in the long hours of prayer as a young nun.<br><br>Powerfully engaging, often heart-breaking, but lit with bursts of humour, <i>The Spiral Staircase</i> is an extraordinary history of self.
Quotes
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Karen Armstrong
Canonical work source
“The constant reprimands made me hyperconscious of my own performance, and so instead of getting rid of self, I had become embedded in the egoism I was supposed to transcend. Now I was beginn...”
“Theologians in all the great faiths have devised all kinds of myths to show that this type of kenosis, of self-emptying, is found in the life of God itself. They do not do this because it so...”
“Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you. It is a moral aesthetic, an ethical alchemy. If you behave in a certa...”
“If your understanding of the divine made you kinder, more empathetic, and impelled you to express sympathy in concrete acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of...”
“I had failed to make a gift of myself to God.”