OK, here’s the headline: NY store owner gives would-be thief $40 and bread.
I read that and thought that sounded so Christian. And uplifting.
So I clicked to read the story, which I excerpt below.
| A rifle-toting convenience store owner said he decided to show mercy on a would-be robber after seeing the man collapse into tears and claim he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.
The Long Island store owner provided the bat-wielding man with $40 and a loaf of bread and made him promise never to rob again. |
Wow! Isn’t that great! (I really do need to install a thumbs-up emoticon on this blog.)
That sure beats a story I read (yesterday, I think) of a shop owner on trial for murder for repeatedly shooting an unarmed teenage wannabe robber. Anyway, I kept on reading.
| “This was a grown man, crying like a baby,” Mohammad Sohail, owner of the Shirley Express convenience store…. |
Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrch! went my thought wheels. That sounds like a Muslim’s name!
| Sohail, who moved to the United States from Pakistan about 20 years ago, said he was getting ready to close his store shortly after midnight on May 21 when the man in his 40s entered with a bat in his hand. Sohail said he tried to stall for a moment and then grabbed a rifle he keeps behind the counter and ordered the assailant to drop the bat.
The would-be thief dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness, Sohail said. “He started crying that he was out of work and was trying to feed his hungry family,” he said. “I felt bad for him. I mean, this wasn’t some kid.” He said he tossed $40 to the man, who then stood up and told Sohail he was inspired by the act of mercy and wanted to become a fellow Muslim. Sohail said he led the man in a profession of Muslim faith and the two ended up shaking hands. |
Hmmmmm. So what do you make of that, huh?
It’s a great, heart-warming story.
Now I hope the two men eventually choose to follow Jesus instead.
And I hope it doesn’t turn out to be an embellished tale or even a made-up one.