Compassion Can Heal Wounds
“Just assume the answer to every question is compassion” (Boyle 62). This is a quote from Fr. Gregory Boyle’s book, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. From the title it can be drawn that this book often focuses on compassion and how it relates to “homies,” or gang members. Most, if not all, gang members go through a lot of trauma, starting in their childhood and going on through adulthood. This is causes them to seek a place, usually gangs, of rest, love, and support. Normally, all it takes to heal a broken bone is a little bit of care and support. One can draw the parallel to gang members as well.People who are shown compassion are constantly showing us that even though they were broken, they can be healed and contribute to society.
Fr. Gregory is a firm believer in that God is the touchback point for all of us. That is, God is our foundation, and all that we need to do as humans is build …show more content…
Greg helps have broken themselves and become ashamed. One such instance is Carmen’s story. She had potential, having graduated high school, a Catholic one at that. Then she started to use heroin. She felt the weight of disgrace and shame upon her shoulders heavily, saying, “I . . . am . . . a . . . disgrace” (Boyle 42). She had been trying for years to free herself from the shackles of pain, shame, and addiction, to no avail. In fact, Fr. Greg reflects on it afterwards, telling us about John Bradshaw, saying that “shame is at the root of all addictions” (Boyle 43). This seems to be true in most cases, especially Carmen’s. She truly wanted to stop her drug use and bouncing around, but she was too ashamed to admit that she needed help. What we as humans need to understand that although people might not show signs that they want help. We need to try to help them regardless. According to Nadine Burke Harris, Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, can affect someone’s mental psyche and physical
“Just assume the answer to every question is compassion” (Boyle 62). This is a quote from Fr. Gregory Boyle’s book, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. From the title it can be drawn that this book often focuses on compassion and how it relates to “homies,” or gang members. Most, if not all, gang members go through a lot of trauma, starting in their childhood and going on through adulthood. This is causes them to seek a place, usually gangs, of rest, love, and support. Normally, all it takes to heal a broken bone is a little bit of care and support. One can draw the parallel to gang members as well.People who are shown compassion are constantly showing us that even though they were broken, they can be healed and contribute to society.
Fr. Gregory is a firm believer in that God is the touchback point for all of us. That is, God is our foundation, and all that we need to do as humans is build …show more content…
Greg helps have broken themselves and become ashamed. One such instance is Carmen’s story. She had potential, having graduated high school, a Catholic one at that. Then she started to use heroin. She felt the weight of disgrace and shame upon her shoulders heavily, saying, “I . . . am . . . a . . . disgrace” (Boyle 42). She had been trying for years to free herself from the shackles of pain, shame, and addiction, to no avail. In fact, Fr. Greg reflects on it afterwards, telling us about John Bradshaw, saying that “shame is at the root of all addictions” (Boyle 43). This seems to be true in most cases, especially Carmen’s. She truly wanted to stop her drug use and bouncing around, but she was too ashamed to admit that she needed help. What we as humans need to understand that although people might not show signs that they want help. We need to try to help them regardless. According to Nadine Burke Harris, Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, can affect someone’s mental psyche and physical