Dear Chief of Police...

Heaven On Earth. Essay.

                                        Heaven on Earth.

While most of us are unconsciously drawn to negativity and seek for revenge, God embraces the act of forgiveness to discover kinship.

How would people in the world be if they had never forgave people? Forgive those who got your order of burger wrong, forgive those who cut you off in the freeway, forgive those who cheated, stole and fell in love with someone else. The act of forgiveness is something we all have to do to accept faith into giving us something much better in the future. “Is there anything I can do? .. Can I give him my blood? .. He was not my enemy. He was my friend..”(145). This was a homie, Clever speaking to Greg after he was found out that an enemy had be beaten in the streets then hospitalized. He had forgiven his rival gang enemy and now saw that kinship was more important. Sometimes it does take something tragic to happen for people to be forgiven or to feel compassion for them. But they say that the one who forgives or apologizes first is the bigger person, the one who loves most and the one who could oversee the bad and knows that relationship is more important than some drama that started it.

Most people wait until they’re dying on their hospital bed using their last breath they have to finally apologize to the people they’ve hurt in their lives. To even forgive people from many years ago with problems older than a decade. Most people are so selfish they won't let go of those problems until they see their victim hit rock bottom and thats when they forgive their burdens. Holding grudges is not the way to be, it can really affect your soul. We have to love our enemies now and make peace now just as if this were to be heaven on earth. “I finally realized why I was out there for so long … I was so fuckin’ angry all the time … And now, I just let it all go”(107). This homie Jason had finally seen the light and “let it all go”. The anger, the burdens, the non worthless drama that was ruining his life. But he realized a little too late because the next morning, Father Greg found out he had been gunned down. Most of the time people don’t realize what they have or could of had until its gone. “Total recurrence of the same”(Nietzsche). It’s our responsibility to put bullshit aside and act now as if everyday was our last.

“Sooner or later, we all discover that kindness is the only strength there is … Love never fails”(122,125). Sooner or later, but never late is better. Once the homies start to recognize compassion with each other, they start letting down their walls. All those feelings of insecurities and uptightness starts to dissolve into kinship.  As working together in Homeboy Industries, they created a bond. They were co workers, friends and some brothers. The most important thing was they no longer saw each other as enemies.

People would ask Greg how he got the homies to change their life. I believe it was the way Greg approached them, how he would communicate them, the way he would forgive them and let go of the burdens the homies caused him. That was exactly what God would do. Greg understands how it is to act as if heaven was earth right here, right now. He didn't wait for the homies to be on the hospital bed, to forgive them and lead them into the right path. Living your life as if every action will live forever.

Part of the book that's just trynna fuck me up..(Consciously challenging)

What do you call yourself, how do you feel, and what is your view towards this world if you didn't grow up with no parents or just a single parent? When Cesar gets out of jail, he seeks for Greg's help. One night at 3am Cesar calls him, hoping to get reassurance. "Have I...been...your son?''(30). The whole book challenges me but this is one of the parts that I could relate to. Greg replies, "Hell yeah". and Cesar exhales a sigh of relief. Ive had a couple adults in my life who I'd call mom. Its not like I didn't have one at home waiting for me, but since the relationship with my own mother isn't as open as I'd want it to be, these women were there to fill the spaces of hope. I know not everyone has a perfect family, with perfect parents. The moms I would build a relationship with would give me the emotionally and sympathy support I've always searched for in my own parents. My parents have a really different way of expressing themselves and are not always so sympathetic towards us ( their children). I think this really messes me and my siblings up because the way I would be as a parent, is totally different then what my parents act. I think that's why bump heads so much and disagree about our beliefs. Yeah, we are all going to have different beliefs all the time but when the main source of a childs life is constantly putting them down with non supporting words, that eventually gets to their inner core. That could mess with a childs life throughout their whole entire life. Parents don't realize that their actions are rippling down their child's life. They won't just get over it, their going to have to deal with their insecurities and whatever their parents put them through. Its going to come out through relationships with people and how the child makes decisions in life.