How to Take Your Mugger to Dinner

This story is a couple of years old (March 2008), but it’s just so rich and thought-provoking that I wanted to collect it here and share it.  It’s about how 31-year-old Julio Diaz took his mugger to dinner one night.  He was able to see through his own fear and his mugger’s bravado, and find someone in need.

I’m particularly struck by the way in which Diaz uses the sharing of a meal in this story.  It seems to contain something that was central to Jesus’ ministry, and has been lost in our practices of Holy Communion.  Something about crossing boundaries, and actual sharing.

This story didn’t have to happen this way.  If you’ve got a minute, listen prayerfully and consider why it did.  Someday, I’d like to write “The Ballad of Julio Diaz.”

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right : NPR.