Adapted by Kathleen Melton from an email entitled, “Sermon Without Words” by Anon.

A woman in a certain community, who previously had been regularly active and social, stopped connecting with others, choosing instead to stay at home. After a few weeks, a caring friend of hers decided to pay her a visit.

On this chilly evening, the friend found the woman at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for this surprise visit, the woman welcomed her friend and offered her a comfortable chair near the fireplace.  Then, she waited.

The friend made herself at home, but said nothing. In the silence, she sat with her friend, contemplating the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After a bit, the friend got up from her comfortable chair, took the fire tongs and carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth – all alone. She then sat back down in her comfortable chair, still silent.

The woman whose home this was watched these actions in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, a momentary glow tried to reignite its own lone flame, but suddenly its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting at the door.

The friend glanced at her watch and realized it was time to leave.  She slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the roaring fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the friend reached the door to leave, the woman, tears streaming down her cheeks, softly said, ‘Thank you so much for your visit and especially for your fiery message. I shall rejoin you and my other friends on Tuesday.”

Moral:  We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little.  Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best messages are the ones left unspoken.