Without A Word
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."
Author Unknown
"Fate
determines who enters our lives,
our actions and reactions determine who stays."
~unknown~
