Ch 9. - "Out of Nazareth"

Ch 9. - "Out of Nazareth"

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? Chapter 9 of *Dry Dock of a Thousand Wrecks*, titled "Out of Nazareth," turns that question toward Cherry Hill, a once-notorious New York neighbourhood, and two men who grew up inside its chaos. Told in vivid early-20th-century language, the chapter first sketches Cherry Hill itself, “like listening at the gates of hell,” as one old resident recalls.

From there, you’ll hear the raw, first-person stories of Chris “Lucky Baldwin” Balfe and his nephew, William “Bull” Johnstone, both raised amid gangs, drinking, and crime. Chris describes his first drunk at about eleven, stealing a beer keg with a friend, then running away from home and sinking into theft, street gangs, and decades lost along the Bowery.

His turning point comes almost by accident, following a man to the Jerry McAuley Mission for coffee when what he thought he wanted was whiskey.

His humour survives even at rock bottom: seeing a deaf man’s hearing device on the desk, he jokes, “Go up there and tell that guy to telephone to heaven that I am coming.” Yet that same night he prays, “God be merciful to me as a sinner,” and says he has “never wanted a drink of whiskey since.” Bull’s story runs on a similar track: dreams of being a gambler and ball-player, heavy drinking, easy money, and eventual physical collapse.

He arrives at the mission only to hit up his uncle for cash, initially thinking the testimonies are “a fraud” and the men are “four flushers.” But something sticks. On returning, he says, “God spoke to me through those men,” and he too steps forward to surrender his life to Christ. This chapter speaks most directly to anyone curious about faith-based recovery from addiction and the possibility of complete change, even for those who think they’re too far gone.

What might their stories suggest about your own idea of what’s possible after addiction?