Homeboy Industries and Huntington Gardens

While Anna was cranking on one of her final projects for class, Janie and I headed into LA to visit Homeboy Industries for an incredible and inspiring tour and then spent the afternoon walking around Huntington Gardens. Both were absolutely beautiful experiences...

with Dina (one of our wonderful tour guides) 

https://youtu.be/68nGwNrIHBo?si=BiTk-7fDM5xhG36J

This video is a wonderful introduction to Homeboy Industries 

an online picture I found (but we did see Father Greg meeting with people and smiling in his office here as we walked by a couple of times!) 

Come…let us adore him. The Hebrew word for praise is tehilla, which primarily means “to radiate” and “to reflect.” God’s invitation, then, is to be radiant in reflecting God’s own tenderness in the world. -Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, page 16

we got one of the best sandwiches for lunch here and some treats for Saturday brunch with Anna - YUM! 

We allow this Tender One to fill us extravagantly, then we go into the world and speak the whole language of it, unrestricted, openhearted, and loyally dedicated to its entirety. Tender glance meets tender glance. Behold the One beholding you and smiling. -Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, page 11

“None of us are well until all of us are well.” This was plastered on billboards and buses all over Los Angeles. It was a campaign for the LA County Department of Mental Health, but it is also a quintessential and hugely Christian message. It’s about health and about bringing others along as we all grow into greater wholeness and integration. -Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, page 111

That’s what we do now. Our own awakened sense of lovability within us moves us out to the other. We rest in the abundant acceptance we feel, and it propels us forward. Jesus always thought that the root cause of oppression was our lack of compassion.  We receive the tender glance, then we become it. Compassionate and fluent in the whole language. We all belong to each other. We begin there. -Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, page 223 

the Homeboy bakery 

If one can love boundlessly, then folks on the margins become utterly convinced of their own goodness. We find our awakened connection to each other- a focused, balanced attention to the person in front of us. To reach and be reached, to savor the world, seeking only to receive the gift. And the world gets saved, and a decision gets made to live in each other’s hearts. An exquisite mutuality, lighting the whole sky. -Gregory Boyle, Barking to the Choir, page 188

Joel, a man who did considerable time in prison, told me, “When my toes hit the floor in the morning, I’m on the lookout.”
“On the lookout for what?” I asked him.
“For God,” he said, “God is always leaving me hints. He’s dropping me anonymous tips all the time.”
--Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, page 8 

Ginkgo trees at Huntington Gardens 

roses in December 

Japanese Garden 

Gum Tree in the Australian Garden 

Palm Garden