Turning the Direction of Rivers

There is a story about a Karen family trying to escape the pursuing Burmese military after their home was burnt to the ground. It seems the family boarded a small boat, and, in the evening, quietly paddled away to seek freedom from oppression. But there was one last danger - bandits. Armed groups of young men were often along the river, eager and ready to stop and plunder any boat, no matter how vulnerable. So, as the family approached the bandits, they prayed to God for protection. Still, the group did not escape the bandits who halted the boat and made everyone get out. At this point, the grandmother of the family immediately said to the bandits, "Thank you so much for guarding our passage on this river. You all must be very tired and hungry, especially as your job is dangerous as there are often bandits here. And those bandits, wherever they are, how needy they must be. Really they are honest people who would only steal because they have no food or a place to stay. Here, have some of our money. And here, take this bread for yourselves. I and my family cannot thank you enough." The bandits listened and did not know what to do or say, only to wave the family's boat forward on the river and past the danger that they represented. Here was a grandmother, a woman, a refugee in her own land who exemplified the missionary spirit. She perceived not a group of bandits as such, but drew out what was intrinsically good and holy and hospitable about them. And in short, that's how they learned or remembered to see themselves. Who must have done the same for that Good Samaritan long ago? He whose table has served justice and drawn out compassion hidden within us all?