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Addiction Book Critic

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Submitted By gloriallozano
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Book Critique – Addiction and Grace

Spring, 2014

Bibliography
May, Gerald G. (2009). Addiction and Grace: Love and spirituality in the healing of addiction.np: HarperCollins

Gerald "Jerry" Gordon May (June 12, 1940- April 12, 2005) was an American Psychiatrist and Theologian. May initially worked as an Air Force psychiatrist in Vietnam where he was a conscientious objector and then became chief of inpatient services at Andrews Air Force Base. After he and his family moved to Columbia, Maryland, he worked on staff treating patients at the Spring Grove Hospital Center and Patuxent Correctional Mental Health Center of the Maryland state prisons system. In 1973, May joined the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland, where he eventually became a senior fellow conducting workshops in contemplative theology and psychology. May wrote several books which advanced his views on combining spiritual direction with psychological treatment such as “Care of Mind/Care of Spirit, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Open Way, Pilgrimage Home, Simply Sane, Will and Spirit, and The Wisdom of Wilderness”.

At the beginning of the reading May talks about the empty longing we all fee inside; “whether we are consciously religious or not, this desire is our deepest longing and our most precious treasure.” Sometimes we feel alone or incomplete. May argues that humans have an inborn desire for God however due to the presence of sin in the world this desire was channeled to other areas of life. As a reaction to sin, the human mind responds through two psychological ways: Repression and Addiction. The “thing” that might fulfill us. May discuses large addictions as well as seemingly harmless small addictions. The largest being from drug and alcohol abuse to the eating chocolate or chewing gum which are considered smallest. The writer argues that every single one of us has an addiction. We are all addicts the difference is that some are more dangerous than the others. May lists the five characteristics that define true addiction with are tolerance, withdrawal, self-deception, loss of willpower, and distortion of attention. 1) Tolerance: the phenomenon of always needing more; (2) withdrawal is the stress or rebound reaction when addiction is curtailed; (3) Self-deception is the inventions of mind to rationalize, deny, displace reasons to accept addiction; (4) Loss of willpower is the lack of control or freedom; (5)Distortion of attention: preoccupation and incapacity to love in full presence. May also addresses idolatry. It calls attention to a kind of conceptual idolatry. Attachments replace God (ultimate concern). This resonates with Rom 1:25 which states that personal and collective depravity happens as consequence of the lack of acknowledgement of the Creator God.

The writer speaks about the neurological nature of addiction in the body. He describes how the brain and body are behind the addiction. Talks about the cells of the brain, the synapses, neurotransmitters, and neuroreceptors. He also elaborates on the complexity of the brain and the areas where the addiction affects the brain. These parts are the brain stem which is in charge of all of the functions our body needs to stay alive breathing, circulating blood, and digesting food. It also links the brain with the spinal cord, which runs down the back and is responsible for moving muscles and limbs as well as letting the brain know what’s happening to the body. Also the limbic system which links together a bunch of brain structures that control our emotional responses, such as feeling pleasure when we eat chocolate. The good feelings motivate us to repeat the behavior, which is good because eating is critical to our lives. Lastly the cerebral cortex, some areas process information from our senses, enabling us to see, feel, hear, and taste. The front part of the cortex, known as the frontal cortex or forebrain, is the thinking center. It powers our ability to think, plan, solve problems, and make decisions. He speaks about the chemicals like morphine and amphetamines, which create sensations of pleasure and relief from pin along with directly affecting natural neuroreceptor, which are the most addictive of all known substances. May elaborates that the ultimately, our yearning for God is the most important aspect of our humanity. It gives our existence meaning and direction because he is the only answer. God can untied us from evil or Satan that might be holding us back. May also talks about grace; the qualities of mercy. They might be from words, poets, artists, songs and goes on but nothing can do justice to tis glory. May states that grace is only truly appreciated and expressed in the actual, immediate experience of real life situations. Finally, it can only be “lived into.” May acknowledges that if our motivations re primarily utilitarian.. deprivation may consist only of the denial of one specific object of attachment: trying to do without so much food, trying to give up tobacco, and so on. With major addictions or more conscious spiritual motivations, the desert can grow to encompass all of life. Now he talks about the empowerment of grace and will in overcoming addiction. You have to have grace in god and will power to be able to empower your temptation or addiction. You are the only person that could do it. It takes all your effort and trust in God. God will take care of you. At the end of the book, May writes, “If god indeed rerates us in love, of love and for love, then we are meant for a life of joy and freedom, not endless suffering and pain. But if God also creates us with an inborn longing for God, then human life is also meant to contain yearning, incompleteness, and lack of fulfillment. This dichotomy gives hope.

The author’s purpose in writing this book is to inspire and feed knowledge to people who might be fighting or any family member a type of addiction. Or to the average person who is yearning to learn about this topic. In the book “Addiction and Grace”, Gerald May describes the processes of attachment that lead to addiction and examines the relationship between addiction and spiritual awareness. Throughout the book May details the various addictions we suffer from alcohol all the way to work addiction. May emphasizes how addiction represents a doomed attempt to assert complete control over our lives. May did achieve the purpose on producing what he wanted with his book because he gave a well insightful research. Not only he gave the readers a well-produced and elaborated book but we speak from his heart. He was really passionately on the issue of addiction and grace. He had his own struggles with addiction and temptations and talks how he was able to fight it with the grace of God. All of his arguments were well supported and convincing because being a Psychiatrist and Theologian he had a lot of experience with individuals who were in the same road as he was. He was able to give a lot of insight of what he learned from his patients and most importantly he backs up his book with a lot of scripture and science.

The interesting thing about “Addiction and Grace,” is that individuals might come to be aware that simplest things can lead us to become addicted and we don’t even know it, just like May was until he discovered his own issues while working with his patients. For example me; I thought I was only addicted to this big issue that I have but as I continue reading this book I came to realize that I’m addicted to how much I weight, something that society sees this as acceptable. Something pretty simple and in my eyes not destructive and harmful. I seriously have that thought every single second of the day that I became obsessed in losing weight. I wasn’t aware that I was so into it. The good thing about this book is that it can be seen as a treatment of the individual own addiction. A guide to a place of freedom based on contemplative spirituality. May talks about how people can overcome their addiction; the road of recovery with the Grace and love of God. I don’t think the book can be improved in any sort of way because it covered everything that we as individuals need to know about how we become addicted, how the addiction affects us and how God can help us overcoming the evil that is enslaving us. I believe the treatment of the material demonstrate real insight and depth because he talked about his own personal experiences. Well detailed and insightful. How not only affected him but also himself. Everyone should read this book because it could help people who are addicted to something overcome it or someone who has a family member or a close friend who is addicted and get to know how they really feel and try to guide them for a recovery. Everything from the book is important for society but what I think it should be the major one is that anything can affect us. At some point we are addicted or been addicted to something to the smallest thing to addicted to chewing gun to addicted to drugs.

I recommend individuals who might consider reading this book to become open minded. Some indivuduals might not be believers and might consider this book as trash. They would see this book as a waste of time because they don’t believe in no such

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