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August 22, 2004
The Spiral Staircase - Karen Armstrong
Interesting and well written this book chronicles the period of time after denouncing her vows with numerous flashbacks/glimpses of experiences as a nun.
I felt connected to her in her rejection of "religion". I was curiosity elated by it and could identify with feelings of disgust at any traditional ceremony. Yet she was still drawn to the investigation of "God". It's interesting that she suffered from epilepsy with a very different outcome than Sister John in Lying Awake.
The surprising thing I learned in reading this book were the similarities between all three of the main world religions. They all have the same core beliefs and all have the same figures as their source (i.e. Moses, Abraham). Islam got it's start from communication between Mohammed and the Angel Gabriel.
Spirituality is not about believing some doctrines or following traditions. Our image of Gad is so far from the true reality of Gods' true nature. Ture mystics undetstad this. It's all about changing ourselves by practicing compassion. The Jewish belief central to the Torah "Find out what distresses you and don't do it to others." Which is essentially the same message as Christianity "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Posted by Priscilla at August 22, 2004 09:52 AM