Michael B. (Ichabod) reviewed Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times on + 134 more book reviews
No one is evil. Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and we belong to each other (no exceptions). This is the theme, repeated over and over, of "Cherished Belonging" by Father Gregory Boyle. While I see his point, it is going to take a lot of spiritual stretching to fully embrace this.
Father Greg is a remarkable human being. He is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest employment and re-entry program for gang members in the world. There are no good or bad people-- just the healthy and unhealthy. Homeboy takes in the broken people and offers them hope and a way to heal in a community. The book is filled with anecdotes that are sometimes inspiring, sometimes very funny, sometimes tragic. Too often, when referring to someone, it will be prefaced with the mention that they were gunned down sometime later. It is what happens.
I had to put the book down for a few days. "Cherished Belonging" was published on November 5, 2024-- Presidential Election Day. A book urging us to see the good in everyone landed on a day of incredible division and emotional fire. It was extremely difficult to embrace with the rhetoric being spewed out. Father Greg says, "Can anyone be well, whole, and healthy and believe that all men and women are not created equal?"
We are challenged to redefine our cut and dried views of evil. In "No Country for Old Men," Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones in the movie) is baffled by what men are capable of, and the character of Anton Chigurh is evil incarnate. Author James Lee Burke's novels openly profess that there are those in this world who must have come from a different source, that their capacity for cruelty is so far removed that it cannot be fathomed by decent folks (whomever they are). "Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and we belong to each other (no exceptions)" -- that idea is very hard to sell in the light of the darkest of human atrocities.
"Cherished Belonging" reads quickly and is never dull-- an accomplishment (in my view) for a book classified in the "Religion & Spirituality" genre. Father Greg is not running around suburbia, refereeing social club disputes. He embraces broken people in one of the most dangerous areas of the world. While I do not share all of his unshakeable optimism, it certainly had me questioning my perspective.
Triggers: There are heartbreaking attacks of violence. Language is realistic and unfiltered. Conservative Catholics may also be surprised to see Father Greg chastising those in the Church who are easily offended... "We can't wait for the Institutional church to find its bravery. The people of God need to move forward. There is no bravery in returning to 1954. If we wait, cobwebs grow on our hearts."
On a personal note, I knew "Greg" a thousand years ago when we were students at Loyola Marymount University. I played his evil (or unhealthy) son in a play and even attended his ordination. We lost contact, but I have followed his career from time to time, proud to have known him and astonished by what he has brought to the world. This year President Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a sort of national canonization.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Father Greg is a remarkable human being. He is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest employment and re-entry program for gang members in the world. There are no good or bad people-- just the healthy and unhealthy. Homeboy takes in the broken people and offers them hope and a way to heal in a community. The book is filled with anecdotes that are sometimes inspiring, sometimes very funny, sometimes tragic. Too often, when referring to someone, it will be prefaced with the mention that they were gunned down sometime later. It is what happens.
I had to put the book down for a few days. "Cherished Belonging" was published on November 5, 2024-- Presidential Election Day. A book urging us to see the good in everyone landed on a day of incredible division and emotional fire. It was extremely difficult to embrace with the rhetoric being spewed out. Father Greg says, "Can anyone be well, whole, and healthy and believe that all men and women are not created equal?"
We are challenged to redefine our cut and dried views of evil. In "No Country for Old Men," Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones in the movie) is baffled by what men are capable of, and the character of Anton Chigurh is evil incarnate. Author James Lee Burke's novels openly profess that there are those in this world who must have come from a different source, that their capacity for cruelty is so far removed that it cannot be fathomed by decent folks (whomever they are). "Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and we belong to each other (no exceptions)" -- that idea is very hard to sell in the light of the darkest of human atrocities.
"Cherished Belonging" reads quickly and is never dull-- an accomplishment (in my view) for a book classified in the "Religion & Spirituality" genre. Father Greg is not running around suburbia, refereeing social club disputes. He embraces broken people in one of the most dangerous areas of the world. While I do not share all of his unshakeable optimism, it certainly had me questioning my perspective.
Triggers: There are heartbreaking attacks of violence. Language is realistic and unfiltered. Conservative Catholics may also be surprised to see Father Greg chastising those in the Church who are easily offended... "We can't wait for the Institutional church to find its bravery. The people of God need to move forward. There is no bravery in returning to 1954. If we wait, cobwebs grow on our hearts."
On a personal note, I knew "Greg" a thousand years ago when we were students at Loyola Marymount University. I played his evil (or unhealthy) son in a play and even attended his ordination. We lost contact, but I have followed his career from time to time, proud to have known him and astonished by what he has brought to the world. This year President Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a sort of national canonization.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
