Dear Readers,
Its heartwarming to know that one simple action can change the mind, heart and life of a person who had intended to steal.
Here's a true story about a social worker, Julio Diaz who practiced a principle espoused by Jesus of Nazareth.
If someone were to strike you on the left cheek, you will give him your right cheek (Matthew 5:39). He gave not only his wallet but he also offered his coat as well so that the robber could keep himself warm. The result of this unusual encounter between a thief and his victim was just amazing.
Something to ponder about in our own lives.
Have a life-changing day!
Rodney Tan Chai Whatt
-------------------------------------------------------------
Inspirational Story
Posted on January 28,
2011
Julio Diaz has a daily
routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway
commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.
But one night last
month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform,
his evening took an unexpected turn.
He was walking toward
the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
“He wants my money, so
I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.
As the teen began to
walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re
going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my
coat to keep you warm.”
The would-be robber
looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He
asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’”
Diaz replied: “If
you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must
really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you
really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.
“You know, I just felt
maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.
Diaz says he and the
teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.
“The manager comes by,
the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid
was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”
“No, I just eat here a
lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the
dishwasher.’”
Diaz replied, “Well,
haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”
“Yea, but I didn’t
think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.
Diaz asked him what he
wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.
The teen couldn’t
answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.
When the bill arrived,
Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill
‘cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet
back, I’ll gladly treat you.”
The teen “didn’t even
think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure
maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”
Diaz says he asked for
something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”
Afterward, when Diaz
told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if
someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”
“I figure, you know,
if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as
simple as it gets in this complicated world.”
This is amazing.. Its kinda epic & life changing! ♥
