The Lonely Ember
A member of a community service organization, who previously had been attending meeting regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the friend decided to visit him.
It was a chilly evening. The friend found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his friend’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited.
The friend made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the friend 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 fascination. As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and "dead as a door nail."
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the friend was ready to leave, he 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 friend reached the door to leave, his host said, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery reminder of the important of being part of something bigger then myself."
~author unknown