Barking to the Choir

A homie named Mike, who has become a pro storyteller as a result of his work with Homeboy Industries, provides the framing for this chapter. He once gave Father Boyle a public speaking tip: “You have to pepper your talk...with self-defecating humor” (91). Boyle uses this anecdote to state this chapter is about humility: 

Not the kind that requires ‘self-defecating,’ a beating up of oneself until one’s esteem is leveled beyond recognition. Rather, it is the humility that can lead to a peaceful surrender and a pervasive sense of gratitude. It is the natural terrain of connection with one another, and how we are to arrive at a place of cherishing in kinship. It is, as they say in business, not a ‘downsizing’ but a ‘right-sizing’ (92).

A homie named Joshua “wants to coin a catchphrase like those made famous on television” (92). One of his favorite answers to the question “Why didn’t THAT take you to THAT place?” is “If you’re humble, you’ll never stumble” (92). To this day, Boyle uses this expression to soothe himself. In another story, Boyle watches as a homie, too drunk at the annual Homeboy Industries picnic, punches another in the mouth.