We are in the middle of the semester, and I find my Battling Addictions class to be a great encouragement to the students and to me. In most of my classes, I either lecture or lead a discussion over something we have read in preparation. However, for this class on Battling Addictions, I thought it would be best to have each student lead a discussion on a portion of our main textbook: Addictions; a Banquet in the Grave, by Ed Welch. The conversations have been better than I expected. Men have borne their souls, talking about addictions and hardships they have had. Students have counseled other students. In some cases, students have spoken comforting words to each other, and in other instances, students have challenged one another with the claims of the Gospel and the commands of Christ and His apostles.
Professor Ken Anema, Professor of Old Testament at Divine Hope, has said he believes, based upon his experience dealing with students, that about 90% of people in prison are in prison because of drugs and alcohol; they are either in prison because they were on drugs, they sold drugs, or they made bad decisions under the influence of drugs or alcohol. My experience interacting with inmates corresponds to Professor Anema’s hypothesis.
People do not realize that prisons are places where drugs and alcohol can be obtained very easily; prisons are dangerous places. As I write this, I have a student’s words ringing in my ears who said at the end of class today, “This book is very timely for me.”