A Favorite Story

Here’s a favorite story of mine from a long time ago at a parent-child program: Two young men had been selected to compete to be the next Chief. Each was given a tinderbox with an ember and told to climb the nearby mountain at night. The first to reach the top and light a fire with the ember from the tinderbox would become the next chief. The two men started out after dark. Around midnight the first man reached a spot where an old man lay shivering in the cold. The old man asked the younger man to use his ember to relight a fire. The young man replied, “I can’t stop. I need to reach the top of the mountain to become Chief.” He departed. Shortly thereafter, the second man arrived and again the old man beseeched him to light his fire. This man thought about continuing on his journey but realized he needed to save the old man from freezing in the cold even though it might cost him the competition. He used his ember to relight the old man’s fire and then added an ember from that fire to his tinderbox. He raced ahead to complete his journey even though he realized he would not be first to reach the summit. Just before dawn, the people below watched as a fire blazed on the top of the mountain. The first man had reached the summit and opened his tinderbox to discover his ember had died out. The second man when he arrived at the summit, had an ember still alive and was able to start a fire and become the new Chief.