The Decision

MONTHS INTO MY FIRST SERIOUS attempt to stay sober, I was about to throw it all away. I stood in my dorm room at Mercy House, a residential drug and alcohol treatment center in Georgetown, Mississippi. Mercy House is faith-based, emphasizing spiritual growth alongside more traditional substance abuse treatment methods.

I’d cycled in and out of plenty of rehabs during nearly 30 years addicted to crack cocaine. None were like this. We spent most of our time learning about God, Jesus and the Bible. We worked at an in-house thrift store, an auto repair center and a craft workshop. Surrender to God and following Jesus were the keys to sobriety, we were told.

I wasn’t sure I believed that. I’d started using crack as a teenager in Oakland, California. I became an addict, a dealer, a thief, a junkie