Holy Fire
Quench not the Spirit.
—1 Thessalonians 5:19
The Spirit of God is like a fire that burns within us. It can be as faint as a matchstick or as raging as a bonfire, depending upon how much fuel we provide. It can grow dim or even go out if the fire isn’t tended. And it is because it is like a fire that St. Paul told the Thessalonians to “quench not the Spirit.”
What quenches the Spirit is an impure life. St. John Chrysostom said,
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Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.
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