www.ismaili.net

The Silent Sermon


A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending
services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the
minister decided to visit him. It was a chilly day. That
evening, the minister found the man at home all alone sitting by
a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for his minister's visit, the man welcomed
him, and led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and
waited. The minister 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, he 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 minister glanced at his watch and chose this 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 minister reached the door to leave, his host said, with a
tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your fiery
sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday".


~Author Unknown~