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Addiction:
- Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance: a drug used in the treatment of heroin addiction.
- The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.
That was me once upon a time. Addicted to cutting. Addicted to self-pity. Addicted to laxatives, diuretics, and fat trappers. Addicted to losing weight. Addicted to occasional binges.
May 22, 2002 and God set me free when I laid it all down at a revival service. Fully and completely laid it down. The following night I brought my pills and my razor blades and put those on the altar at the front of the church and walked away, never to return.
The battles have come. Even ten years later, I get this horrible compulsion to purge. Even worse, the compulsion to cut will take over my mind.
But God is bigger than the compulsion. He is bigger than the battle. And I have walked in victory for almost a decade now with--praise Him--no relapses.
For those who have never been addicted it's difficult to relate to Truman Wily.
"Just don't do it" is the common thought. The common counsel. It's not that easy and
Chris Fabry portrays it realistically. Though I have to say, he only touches the tip of the iceberg of emotional angst and struggle that precedes the addictive behavior and the guilt that follows. He could have devoted more paragraphs to that part of the struggle and still not have fully portrayed all that it entails.
The story is told from Truman's perspective in the beginning but then switches from first person to third person. I'm not sure I like the switch back and forth like that but Chris does make it work due to his skill as a writer.
Truman gripped my heart. His wife seemed weak however. An enabler who continues to accept Truman's behavior and not really take him to task for the havoc he has wreaked on the family. Eager for him to love her more than for him to be the godly husband and father he should be. I would have liked to have seen her have stronger boundaries with her addicted husband.
The plot line of a condemned criminal on death row and the need for a heart for Truman's son is intriguing. It opens a political and ethical can of worms and Chris dealt with it in a great way.
As far as the book's resolution, it threw me for a loop in not one, but two ways, and I always have been a big fan of big loop endings. Because of this, as well as the topics presented such as addiction, the death penalty, and organ donation from death row inmates, even despite the weak wife and change up in voice perspective, it causes me to give
Not in the Heart a
4 out of 5 rating.
