Analysis Of Tattoos On The Heart By Gregory Boyle

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle is one of the most inspirational book I have ever read. The book is comprised of multiple different stories from the life and work of the author himself, which makes this a realistic experience for the reader. These stories are of the Homeboys of Homeboys Industries, an organization founded by Father G, or Greg, in hopes of finding the light for gangs in California.
Told in a series of different little essays based on true experiences from the life Father G, these stories are of ex-gang members and they are of faith and love. The stories, as a whole, truly demonstrate how large an impact unconditional love can have on one’s life. These stories do explore the possibility

of how fully we can change our lives if we could find God calling out to us. We have to find that inner courage to find that light at the end of the tunnel because “in the nature of tunnels, if you just keep walking, the light’s gonna show up.” (Boyle, 70)
One story from Tattoos on the Heart that strikes me is of a fifteen-year-old kid named Looney.

In his past, Looney was disgorged from a probation camp after six month in LA for writing on walls. At Homeboys Industries, the kid was loved and cared for by all the other employees and he loves this attention. He tells G about his achievements in the probation camp even though it is not so significant. And when G told the boy “if you were my son, I’d be the proudest man alive.” (Boyle, 69). Looney then tells G about how his friends got killed in the streets and how he fears for his life. “I….just…want…to have a life.” He

said.
The drama is that these people come to Homeboys Industries to ultimately change their lives for the better but sometimes things just don’t work out because they are still shaded by their dark past. These boys did horrible things to the community. And then because they live in this Street Code, it is easy for them to make enemies. Then they start killing each other. It is hard to put such a past behind them and it is even hard for Gregory Boyle as he tries so hard to convert them. “Kids I love killing kids I love.” (Boyle, 66). But why? Some of the core problems arise. One of the problems, especially illustrated in this story of Looney, is the lack of the parental figures. Other than Looney, some other kids are ashamed of themselves because they lack their parents, others think they are lucky because their parents can destroy their lives. And because they lack guidance from their parental figures, they go on doing things to create themselves a status. Deep down they are thriving to be part of a community, no matter how low that community may be. This leads to another problem, which is the thirst to find their places in the world. And this usually leads to all the wrong decisions without parental guidance.
Then now what is the ultimate questions?

It is all about social recognition and self-realization. There has always been vulnerability innate in every single human being. We all want to be part of a larger community where we can prove our stand and secure it so that nobody can harm us. In a lot of these stories, when the kids talk, you can clearly make out the vulnerability in their voice, and G actually points this out over the course of the book. Now there are two ways of being recognized in a community: the good way and the bad way. The bad way seems so easy, tempting and “cool” in the beginning. That’s why young people usually end up making this decision. Gregory Boyle sees that this is merely a mistake that stems from the craving of social recognition and decides to convert these lives for the better because to him, conversion is “recognizing the truth”. He wants to use love and compassion to make the youth see the light and head into the right direction, the good path that is. Particularly in the story of Looney, according to Marcus Borg and Gregory Boyle, there was always a large group of people “who felt wholly unacceptable” (Boyle, 70). Greg uses Jesus’ strategy to have compassion in them, to share their feelings. “Precisely to those paralyzed in this toxic shame, Jesus says, “I will eat with you”. He goes where love has not yet arrived, and he “gets his grub on.” (Boyle, 70). Greg eats with Looney and shares with him Looney’s amusement when he shows G how great he

did in the camp. The bottom structure of the human soul are three truths: truth about ourselves, divisions and grief (this one deals specifically with the need for accompaniment). He call the youth to see and recognize the truth in order to change and improve their own lives. In theology, this is also referred to as vocation, or the call from God.
After everything I have read in “Tattoos on the Heart”, I think Gregory Boyle, as a whole, is a very bold person full of hope, a real rare find these days. And I think that Greg’s response to all these situations are all based on the faith and unconditional love of God. He actually seems like an Earthly version of God in these stories and this truly inspires the ex-gang members to engage in change. Truth be said, I will never have such courage and unconditional love to do what he did. But if I were to be in his shoes, I would definitely do my best, under God’s guidance through scriptures and life mottos, to improve the lives of these ex-gang members. I would also take risks in hope that there would be a brighter future for these people and improve the community.
In short, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion” truly is an inspiring piece of work from a field pastor who actually created and, after all the ups and downs, succeed in Homeboys Industries, providing jobs to a lot of young people who could not find the light before. Reading this book, I feel like there is nothing in this world we can’t do, even stirring our lives into a different direction.