An assiduous member of certain church,without giving any explanation, stopped participating in the regular activities of the church. After a couple of weeks, a leader of the church decided to visit him. It was a very cold night. The leader found the man at home, alone,seated before the fireplace..PP Knowing the reason of the visit, the man brought the leader close to the fireplace and made him seat on a comfortable chair. Both were silent observing the fire’s flames using up the wood. Some time passed by and the leader got closer to the fireplace until he could reach  the flames. Carefully, he selected one of those flames, the most incandescent one, and put that aside. He came back to his seat and remained silent. The host observed everything with attention.

Little by little, the separated flame started to diminish, there was a moment of brightness and the fire stopped completely. In a little period of time, the warm and light fire became just a piece of charcoal full of ash.

No word besides compliments were given until this time. The leader got up, preparing himself to leave but before leaving he put the piece of charcoal back in the fireplace. Immediately, the     charcoal got in fire again.When the leader was at the door, the man said: “Thank you for your visit and for the beautiful sermon.I’m coming back to the church.”

Two lessons of the story: 

1. The members of the church should remember that church is a synonym of union.

2.  Each person should feel responsible for keeping this union alive, through continuous fellowship.

Leonardo Cândido