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In an NPR interview, Father Gregory Boyle, Founder of the HomeBoy Industries, talked about his work with former gang members in Los Angeles. He told a poignant story about a dream one of the former gang members, that he had counseled, shared with him.

In the dream, the boy says the two of them, he and Father Boyle, are sitting in a room in complete darkness with neither one of them saying a single word. In the gloom, Father Boyle quietly turns on a flashlight and shines it across the room illuminating a light switch. The boy suddenly is aware that it is solely up to him to turn on the light, so he walks across the room, flips on the switch and the room is flooded with light. As the boy starts to cry, he says to Father Boyle –“I am so glad you had a flashlight.”

Later when the two are discussing the dream, the boy tells Father Boyle, as if aware for the very first time, "The light is so much better than the darkness."

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