Juan always used to attend the Sunday service at his church, but he began to feel that the priest was always saying the same thing, and so stopped going.
Two months later, one cold winter night, the priest came to visit him.
‘He’s probably come to try and persuade me to go back,’
Juan thought to himself. He felt that he couldn’t give the real reason for his absence – the priest’s repetitive sermons. He needed to find an excuse and, while he was thinking, he placed two chairs beside the fire and started talking about the weather.
The priest said nothing. After trying in vain for some time to start a conversation, Juan gave up. The two men sat on in silence for nearly half an hour, staring into the fire.
At that point, the priest got up and, with one of the logs that had not yet burned; he pushed one piece of coal away from the flames.
Since there was not enough heat for the coal to continue burning, it began to cool. Juan quickly drew it back into the centre of the fire.
‘Good night,’ said the priest, getting up to leave.
‘Goodnight, and thank you very much,’ replied Juan.
‘However brightly a piece of coal may be burning, it will soon burn out if you remove it from the flames. However intelligent a man may be, he will soon lose his warmth and his flame if he distances himself from his fellow man. I’ll see you at church next Sunday.’
-Derived from the book of Paulo Coelho, Like the Flowing River-
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