Author Unknown

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.”