Submitted Christian Writings
LONELY EMBER STORY
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
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