Book Recommendations: Tattoos on the Heart - The Power of Boundless Compassion
Doldrums of February getting you down? Curling up with a good book can help! And so, for the next few blog entries, we’ll be sharing book recommendations sent into us from our volunteers, board members, staff, and community at-large when they were given this prompt:
“WHAT BOOK HAVE YOU READ RECENTLY THAT FUELED, INSPIRED OR GAVE YOU NEW PERSPECTIVE ON CULMORE CLINIC’S WORK?
For our first entry, we have Board Member and volunteer interpreter, Dr. Monica Granovsky’s recommendation:
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion (1994) by Gregory Boyle
And here’s how Dr. Granovsky answered our prompt:
"Fr. Boyle‘s delightful laugh out loud stories of working with young community members in LA reminds us that our call for service work requires open minds and open hearts, mutual respect and love for all human beings. Working at Culmore Clinic is joyful, a place for health of bodies, minds, and souls alike."
“Destined to become a classic of both urban reportage and contemporary spirituality" ( "Los Angeles Times" )-- "Tattoos on the Heart" is a series of parables about kinship and redemption from pastor, activist, and renowned speaker, Father Gregory Boyle--now in paperback. For twenty years, Father Gregory Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles--also known as the gang capital of the world. In "Tattoos on the Heart," he has distilled his experience working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JC Penney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God's love. From ten-year-old Pipi we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Lulu we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the dark--as Father Boyle phrases it, we can only shine a flashlight on a light switch in a darkened room. This is a motivating look at how to stay faithful in spite of failure, how to meet the world with a loving heart, and how to conquer shame with boundless, restorative love.
Want to purchase this book and give back to Culmore Clinic at the same time? Purchase it from your Amazon Smile account and we get a portion of the sale! Learn more about how to set up an Amazon Smile account below:
If you shop Amazon, you can set your account to automatically instruct Amazon to gift a percentage of your order’s total to Culmore Clinic. It’s no extra cost for you, and it’s very easy to set up! Simply go to smile.amazon.com. It should automatically link to your Amazon account. Then follow the steps and when prompted search and select "Culmore Clinic." Then, anytime you want to shop, just go to smile.amazon.com and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to us! Want to double your impact? Shop for items off our Amazon Wishlist!
Have a good book recommendation that has reminded you of Culmore Clinic’s work? Email us with the title, author and the answer to the prompt above and we may feature you on the next blog!