The Heart of Perfection: How the Saints Taught Me to Trade My Dream of Perfect for God's

(Paperback)

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Winner of the 2020 Catholic Press Association Book Award

In a book hailed as liberating (Gary Chapman, New York Times bestselling author), an award-winning author and mother of four weaves her own stories and struggles with those of seven ex-perfectionist saints (and one heretic) who show us how to pursue a new kind of perfection: freedom in Christ.

Spiritual perfectionisman obsession with flawlessness rooted in the belief that we can earn Gods loveis dangerous because so many of us mistake it for virtue. Its toxic cycle of pride, sin, shame, blame, and despair distorts our vision, dulls our faith, and leads us to view others through the same hypercritical lens we think God is using to view us.

As a lifelong overachiever who drafted her first rsum in sixth grade and spell-checked her high school boyfriends love letters, Colleen Carroll Campbell knows something about the perfectionist trap. But it was only after she became a mother that she started to see how insidiously perfectionism had infected her spiritual life, how lethal it could be to her happiness and her family, and how disproportionately it afflicts the people working hardest to serve God.

In the ruins of her own mistakes, Colleen dug into Scripture and the lives of the canonized saints for answers. She discovered to her surprise that many holy men and women were, in fact, recovering perfectionists. And their grace-fueled victory oer this maladynot perfectionist strivingwas the key to their heroic virtue and contagious joy.

In The Heart of Perfection, Colleen weaves the stories and wisdom of seven ex-perfectionist saints (and one heretic) with Scripture and beautifully crafted tales of her own trial-and-error experiments in applying that wisdom to her life. Gorgeously written and deeply insightful, Colleen Carroll Campbells The Heart of Perfection is a must-read (Jeannie Gaffigan, executive producer of The Jim Gaffigan Show) that gives us permission towalk in the freedom of Gods unconditional love (Jennifer Fulwiler, author of One Beautiful Dream).

For a free Heart of Perfection reading guide for book clubs, visit Colleen-Campbell.com.

Reviews

"Persuasive...enjoyable...insightful...Campbell is a fluid writer, making her histories and personal anecdotes blend seamlessly...perfectionists of any religious persuasion will benefit from this gratifying work." * Publishers Weekly *
Part hagiography, part self-help, Campbells latest is a useful guide for perfectionists and others to the rigors of humility and the joy of grace. * Booklist *
Drawing inspiration from saints . . . the author interweaves biblical scripture with stories from her own life . . . [and] makes the case that Gods love cannot be earned. . . . Recommended for public libraries with collections supporting spiritual journeys and parenting. * Library Journal *
"Catholics and Protestants have much to learn from the saints and from this self-revealing book by Colleen Carroll Campbell. Colleen unveils the reality discoveredby many who have gone before us that true satisfaction, peace, and joy are not the results of our efforts to live a perfect life, but come as a gift of Gods love. To all who are burdened with shame and guilt in their efforts to do life right, the message of this book is liberating."

-- Gary D. Chapman, Ph.D. New York Times bestselling author of The Five Love Languages
In TheHeart of Perfection,Colleen Carroll Campbell explores the real lives of saints with the scrutiny of an investigative journalist and highlights their quest for the perfect love of God. Like so many women (and men) today who are caught in the endless hamster wheel of trying to be perfect, Campbell spent her life striving for her ideal self, and surpassed her own goals.In this deep and thoughtful reflection on herself, the generations of perfectionist women she came from, and with a broad-daylight expos of the lives of the not-so perfect saints, Campbell realizes that setting the bar so high is detrimental;trying to be perfect only results in beating yourself up for not being perfect.The Heart of Perfectionis a must-read for those of us whose pursuit of perfection is just creating the perfect trap.

-- Jeannie Gaffigan, writer and executive producer of The Jim Gaffigan Show and four Grammy-nominated comedy albums
"Whenever you find yourself comparing, competing, and trying to earn a gold star in life... read The Heart of Perfection. Colleen Carroll Campbell's writing is grace-filled and life-giving. I loved this book! "
-- Sarah Mackenzie, author of The Read-Aloud Family and Teaching from Rest
"This book is absolutely excellent and meets a very present need of many people. I wish it to be read by everyone! Not always consciously, we are marked by a certain perfectionism, the feeling that to deserve Gods love and the love of others we must be perfect beings and follow a faultless journey to God. This perfectionism may seem generous and express the commitment to be good Christians, but it is actually disastrous. It prevents us from achieving true perfection, not the one we imagine, but the one God wants for us... From her personal experience, from the example of the saints, from her meditation on Scripture, Colleen shows us with great spiritual truth and psychological sharpness how this perfectionism manifests itself, its consequences, and how to get rid of it to enter into the true freedom of the children of God. One thing that gives me great joy in this book is to see how a woman, wife, and mother, engaged in a very active professional life, living in the complicated context of our society, can reach such an authentic experience of God and deep, spiritual wisdom something that may have been thought to be reserved for some particular vocations, such as religious life. This is an immense encouragement to lay people today who sometimes think that struggling with the problems of everyday family life may be an impediment to progress in the spiritual life. Colleen shows us that its the opposite, and we should be very grateful to her."
-- Fr. Jacques Philippe, internationally bestselling author of nine books published in 24 languages, including Searching for and Maintaining Peace, Interior Freedom, and Time for God.
"With lyrical prose and candid storytelling, Colleen Carroll Campbell unpacks the perfectionism that keeps many of us striving to impress God and others, often to exhaustion. Yet instead of offering the quick fix of self-help platitudes, Campbell draws us into the rich and complex lives of the saints. Separated by centuries and culture, the saints nonetheless become like friends in Campbell's telling, revealed to us as wonderfully human yet transformed by grace. May this book be a conduit of grace for many readers."

-- Katelyn Beaty, author of A Womans Place and former managing editor of Christianity Today
"Today's culture preaches salvation through perfectionism, and many of us have ended up stressed out and miserable from trying to do everything the 'right' way. The Heart of Perfection gives us permission to step out of the straitjackets we've forced ourselves into, and walk in the freedom of God's unconditional love."

-- Jennifer Fulwiler, SiriusXM radio host and author of One Beautiful Dream
Perfectionists already know many of the truths that can set us free. For instance, we know that God loves us, that hes trustworthy, and that we dont have to earn his love. But knowing is not enough. We also need such truths to penetrate our hardened hearts and calm our frazzled nerves. This book is here to help. Through engaging personal testimony and the masterful re-telling of lives of relatable saints, it effectively heals wounds that keep us from the joyful freedom of the children of God.

-- Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC Author, 33 Days to Morning Glory and 33 Days to Merciful Love
"The Heart of Perfection is a reflective, engaging work that offers a comforting yet challenging message. Colleen Carroll Campbell writes with the confidence and spark of an experienced writer as well as with the contagious, personal passion of a spiritual seeker. Her message is compelling, suggesting remedies and challenging the reader to address the perfectionism that is force-fed to most of us from our earliest years by misguided representatives of both the social and religious cultures of our time."

-- Br. Joseph F. Schmidt, FSC, author of Everything Is Grace: the Life and Way of Thrse of Lisieux and Walking the Little Way of Thrse of Lisieux.
This is a well-written book for anyand this is no small number todaywhose lives feel too pressured, who feel that, no matter how hard they try, they can never measure up to what God expects. Colleen Carroll Campbell, with a rich blend of personal experience and the witness of the saints, real saints, with real lives and struggles like our own, points the way to freedom from a burden that God never wanted us to carry. If you feel that you work hard . . . but always come up short in Gods eyes, this is the book for you.

-- Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV, author of The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to Everyday Living

Author Bio

Colleen Carroll Campbell is an award-winning author, print and broadcast journalist, and former presidential speechwriter. Her books include her critically acclaimed journalistic study,The New Faithful,and spiritual memoir,My Sisters the Saints,which won two national awards and has been published in five languages. Colleen has written for TheNew York Times, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, America,andNational Review, and she has appeared on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, ABC News, PBS, NPR, and EWTN, where she hosted her own television and radio shows for eight years. A former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and editorial writer and op-ed columnist for theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch,Colleen is the recipient of two honorary doctorates and numerous other awards for her work. She speaks to audiences across North America and Europe and lives on the central coast ofCalifornia with her husband and their four children, whom she homeschools. Visit her online at Colleen-Campbell.com.