Once there were some people who decided that they would get together and build a house. So first they began to read some instructions from a book by a master house builder about how building a safe house was to be done.

But just to make sure that this house would be built the they wanted it to be built, these people also decided to consult various other manuals about building houses, which some of them had written themselves.

Finally, they were ready to begin building the house. As time went on they decided to add more and more people, from neighboring towns, who had also come to help out in building this house.

Some people came up with the idea that if they were to add even more rooms to the house, then the others who were helping, could also share this home. And so they did. In order that they could enjoy each other’s company more readily, they decided to set aside the certain specifications from that master builder’s book, and instead, use the more practical ideas they had found in their own books.

In doing so, they made sure that all of the rooms would also be interconnected. But one day, while they were busy building upstairs, the house caught on fire in a lower room. Actually it was just a very small fire, which began to smolder slowly. At first a few of the people thought they had smelled some smoke, but then decided that they were being too negative, and it was only their imagination.

And so they continued to read more manuals they’d written about house building, while continuing to recruit more builders in order to keep on building this big house. But eventually that fire began to grow, and grow, until the entire house was ablaze. The Fire Marshall was filled with compassion so he quickly dispatched his firefighters to the house, which by now was a raging inferno.

As the firemen entered each room they were amazed to find that many of the people were actually sleeping. Some were in deep contemplation about building, while still others were busy concentrating on building each room of the house exactly they way they liked it, even though this house was now completely on fire.

But even when the firemen finally got their attention, most of the people refused to leave the burning house saying, “We don’t believe the house is on fire; and we aren’t going listen to you, because you don’t look like any of the firemen we’ve ever seen in our building manuals.”

Now let me ask you; what do you suppose those firemen faithful to their Fire Marshall ought to do?