A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending
services regularly, stopped going.
After a few weeks, the pastor
decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone,
sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for his
pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and
waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he
contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.
After some minutes, the pastor took
the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of
the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all
this in quiet fascination.
As the one lone ember's flame
diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and
"dead as a doornail."
Not a word had been spoken since
the initial greeting.
Just before the pastor was ready to
leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.
Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals
around it.
As the pastor reached the door to
leave, his host said, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery
sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."
