The Solitary Piece of Coal
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 he 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 center of