My Religion

by Helen Keller

Helen Keller had absolutely no hearing or eyesight from the age of two, but became one of the most inspiring and well known people to have ever lived. For a number of years she functioned, in her words, simply as "an unconscious clod of earth." Then quite suddenly, she experienced the impact of "another mind" within her own. Despite not knowing where it came from or how it got there, she awoke to a new awareness of being able to talk and listen with her hands. She learned to read and write, wrote at least ten books, and attended college. Her religion developed from living deeply within her spiritual self, cut off from normal sensation, and spending her life on a spiritual plane. She incorporated her own experiences with the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a mystic born in 1688, and the Swedenborgian Church. Swedenborg, like Keller, had experienced other realms of spirit and transmitted deeper teachings that Helen saw with great clarity. She wrote this book after receiving many requests for her to describe her religious beliefs.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Religion, Memoir

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Blind and deaf since infancy, American memoirist and lecturer Helen Adams Keller learned to read, to write, and to speak from her teacher Anne Sullivan, graduated from Radcliffe in 1904, and lectured widely on behalf of sightless people; her books include Out of the Dark (1913).

Conditions bound not Keller. Scarlet fever rendered her deaf and blind at 19 months; she in several languages and as a student wrote The Story of My Life . In this age, few women then attended college, and people often relegated the disabled to the background and spoke of the disabled only in hushed tones, when she so remarkably accomplished. Nevertheless, alongside many other impressive achievements, Keller authored 13 books, wrote countless articles, and devoted her life to social reform. An active and effective suffragist, pacifist, and socialist (the latter association earned her a file of Federal Bureau of Investigation), she lectured on behalf of disabled people everywhere. She also helped to start several foundations that continue to improve the lives of the deaf and blind around the world.

As a young girl, obstinate Keller, prone to fits of violence, seethed with rage at her inability to express herself. Nevertheless, at the urging of Alexander Graham Bell, Anne Sullivan, a teacher, transformed this wild child at the age of 7 years in an event that she declares "the most important day I remember in all my life." (After a series of operations, Sullivan, once blind, partially recovered her sight.) In a memorable passage, Keller writes of the day "Teacher" led her to a stream and repeatedly spelled out the letters w-a-t-e-r on one of her hands while pouring water over the other. This method proved a revelation: "That living world awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away." And, indeed, most of them were.

In her lovingly crafted and deeply perceptive autobiography, Keller's joyous spirit is most vividly expressed in her connection to nature:

Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education.... Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror....

The idea of feeling rather than hearing a sound, or of admiring a flower's motion rather than its color, evokes a strong visceral sensation in the reader, giving The Story of My Life a subtle power and beauty. Keller's celebration of discovery becomes our own. In the end, this blind and deaf woman succeeds in sharpening our eyes and ears to the beauty of the world. --Shawn Carkonen

Reviews

[Nitin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved reading Helen Keller and her profound philosophy. Her words never cease to amaze. Of course I am not a believer or a creationist but the way she described what she actually believes in, it made me reflect for once What if it's real? Something beyond the reach of reason and rationality, a whole different level of existence.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a super-psychedelic 60’s edition of this book and thought I’d give it a shot. I didn’t know much about Helen Keller when I picked it up, but her experience of course is fascinating and she is probably the most widely known disabled person from history. So, being into disability theory I decided to read it sooner than later.

First off this is much more of a philosophy book than an autobiography. Through most of the book she defends the theories of Swedish scientist and theologian, Emanuel Swedenborg. She references all kinds of philosophies ranging from Empedocles to the Code of Hammurabi. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a theology/philosophy kick so some of the tangents were rather mind-numbing. She also defends her various views of Bible interpretation and the nature of God.

I don’t agree with her on 95% of her points regarding spirituality, but her arguments are interesting and deserve thought. She is very strong willed in her opinions and how she got to them is something that I think deserves more recognition than people give her credit for. I was amazed at her scope of knowledge, but what I appreciated most was her strong perspective. I think too many put her in the hallmark card inspiration category and don’t give her much credit past learning the word “water.” But it’s clear that she was extremely in tune with the world and people in it, more so than people today who have the use of all their senses.

So, no, this isn’t an inspirational autobiography, but it does dig very deep into her strong prerogative of her spiritual sense and her unshaken relationship with Christianity and God. Well worth the read though you’ll be brushing up on loads of history to follow through some of the points.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This autobiographical account of Helen Keller’s faith is interesting, but potentially mistitled. Greatly influenced by Swedenborg, she devotes that majority of the book in extreme praise of his thought. “Swedenborg was not a destroyer, but a divinely inspired interpreter. He was a prophet sent by God. His own message proclaims it more convincingly than any saying of his followers could. There is no escaping his virile personality. As we read his message, we are filled with recognition and delight. He did not make a new Bible, but he made the Bible all new! One who receives him gains a great spiritual possession.” A better title might have been, “Swedenborg’s Religion and Its Tremendous Influence on Me.”

That said, there are some interesting passages, and one comes away incredibly impressed with the intelligent eloquence with which Keller writes. “As I wander through the dark, encountering difficulties, I am aware of encouraging voices that murmur from the spirit realm. I sense a holy passion pouring down from the springs of Infinity. I thrill to music that beats with the pulses of God. Bound to suns and planets by invisible cords, I feel the flame of eternity in my soul.” Beautiful phrasing such as this does lead to her interpretation of the mission of Jesus. Regarding Jesus, she states, “He always visualized hatred as the opposite of God in every detail, great or small, and His teaching about hell was not as of punishment by God, but the inevitable law of evil recoiling upon those who cast themselves into hate and the burning lust and the cruel miseries of wounded pride and thwarted egoism. No matter from what angle He started, He came back to this fact, that He entrusted the reconstruction of the world, not to wealth or caste or power or learning, but to the better instincts of the race—to the nobler ideals and sentiments of the people—to love, which is the mover of the will and the dynamic force of action.”

Ultimately, her faith regards loving action as a prime mover of the world. This faith resonates with her own experience. “It is by fighting the limitations, temptations, and failures of the world that we reach our highest possibilities.”

This book is a worthy read.

See my other reviews here!

[KerryT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could approve of Helen Kelley’s content in this book but I can’t. She followed Swedenborg and his visions. Many times the Bible was quoted but not one mention of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and the free gift of salvation He offers. So sad.

[Chris Huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellen Keller's book on religion is fascinating. Even though she, unfortunately, gravitated toward a strange offshoot of Christianity, her thought process that led her to her understanding of God was nevertheless quite right. We all tend to perceive and understand things based on our senses. In the absence of many of her senses, she was not led astray by them. She learned to have an acute spiritual reasoning that she lived by. Although I disagree with some of the finer conclusions that she believed, I found many of her insights helpful and inspiring.

"Life here is more cruel than death--life divides and estranges, while death, which at heart is life eternal, reunites and reconciles."

[James Gaither · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways from the beginning of the book toward about 3/4s of the way through the book, I was wondering if this book was written with the help of the Swedenborg foundation. Meaning, it seemed intended to plug joining her religion, and less about her religious biography. But she does get quite personal and quite profound toward the end, and this was my favorite section of the book. The book starts interesting, gets infomercial-ish, and closes out in touching fashion. Not a bad book at all. 3 stars.

[Giorgio Dechambre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to discover a book written by Helen Keller. Her incredible story of overcoming deafness and blindness has always fascinated me. I was intrigued by the title and appreciated her expression of her faith and admiration for Swedenborg. However, my main critique is that the writing style feels quite dated. At times, the sentence structure didn't flow, and I often struggled to grasp the overall meaning of entire passages.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is horribly edited, despite a preface saying the editor was seeking to improve upon the editing of a prior version of the book. I shudder to imagine what the prior version looked like. But despite that, Keller’s beautiful spiritual vision and remarkable life story shine through. Her religion is one I can ascribe to.

[Amanda Thorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give this a 4 1/2. I LOVED it (especially the second half) but I also had a hard time reaching for it. If you appreciate hearing others beliefs then find this. Helen Keller has such a unique perspective on life and has some really profound was of thinking and explaining things. I highlighted half the book. I also loved the short length.

[Katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a person talks about her religion she`s talking about her loved ones