silent sermon...

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 comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made
himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated
the dance 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
contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished,
there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.

Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial
greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave,
he slowly stood up, 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 with a tear running
down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the
fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

~Author Unknown~