The Median Sib

Last week I wrote about driving past a Pizza Hut with the following sign out front:

I’m having a grand time reading the blogs of other teachers. Darren at Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher, wrote THIS post about what teachers really do during all those breaks from teaching. If you’re a teacher (and even if you’re not), you’ll enjoy it.

I received the following in an email. I thought it was a great metaphor (or would it be an analogy? Or something else? Joan or Tim, tell me what it is, please!). Whatever it is, I liked it and so I’m posting it here. Maybe you’ll enjoy it, too.

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor 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 contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.

The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, 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 pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.”

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

I found a blog I hadn’t read before, Number 2 Pencil witten by Kimberly. It contained some great reading along with some great teaching links. There was one post, in particular, that I enjoyed. It contained a comment by Kimberly’s fiance that was hilarious because I’ve had a similar experience.

So I looked at the links on Kimberly’s blogroll and selected one to click. I read some of that blog, liked it and blogrolled it. Clicked a link from that next blog, read some of it and blogrolled it…etc. This went on for awhile. I added a bunch of new blogs to my blogroll. Once you get started blogrolling, it’s hard to stop because you don’t want to forget how to get to a blog you like.

It’s amazing how many great blogs there are out there - and also how many pointless ones. I enjoy finding the great ones.