What Does It Mean to Quench the Spirit of God?

Keywords

spiritual reflection, self-examination, growth

Abstract

I love how the Wasatch Mountains in Utah roar to life in springtime, especially in the years when an abundance of rain graces the mountainsides with explosions of green new growth.

That profusion of life does not last. The circle of life pushes forward relentlessly as life gives way to new life through death. By mid-summer, scorching hot and dry days have turned the green profusions of life to death-pale hues of yellow, tan, and brown.

What once promised life and vitality now contains the potential of a fiery death for itself and, without containment, fiery contamination to anything nearby.

After a copious spring-time of rain this year, the Wasatch Mountains were ready to burst into fire as the sun and dry heat sucked the life out of the mountain plants. That’s what happened near my home in Springville, Utah this summer. The Wasatch Mountains erupted into uncontrollable flames when someone did not properly extinguish their campfire.

I was walking across campus at BYU, some 10 miles to the north of Springville, when a huge tanker jet flew low overhead. I’ve never seen a plane this large fly so close and so low to campus. My attention was riveted. As I watched the plane head south, and seeing the billowing smoke pouring into the sky from the blackened mountain, I realized that this plane must be fighting the fire.

Original Publication Citation

What Does It Mean to Quench the Spirit of God?, October 20, 2019.

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2019

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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