Four quartets - T. S. Eliot - When He Became a Christian

 

                                When T. S. Eliot Became a Christian

From Four Quartets

The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all...
...These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is
   Incarnation.

Here the impossible union
Of spheres of existence is actual
Here the past and future
Are conquered and reconciled....

In order to arrive at what you do not know
   You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
   You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
   You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not....

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning...

And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well..

--From Four Quartets






Important dates for T. S. Eliot
     1888 - his birth
     1922 - Wasteland published
     1927 - his conversion from agnosticism/atheism to Christianity
     1930 - Ash Wednesday published -- what he called
                his "Conversion Poem."
     1943 - Four Quartets published -- for which he was
                awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature           
        1965 - his pre-resurrection death

When T. S. Eliot became a Christian - From article by John Piippo

"On June 29, 1927, the brilliant T. S. Eliot converted from Unitarianism to Anglicanism. Some of his former fellow atheists were scandalized. Virginia Woolf was one of them.

Her reaction, writes Peter Hitchens (Christopher's brother) was one of fury and almost physical disgust which was, he says, typical of the educated British middle class.

Woolf wrote, 'I have had a most shameful and distressing interview with poor dear Tom Eliot, who may be called dead to us all from this day forward. He has become an Anglo-Catholic, believes in God and immortality, and goes to church. I was really shocked. A corpse would seem to me more credible that he is. I mean, there's something obscene in a living person sitting by the fire and believing in God.'"

(Hitchens, Peter, The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith, p. 24).

Woolf's response is similar to that of Richard Dawkins who shrinks back in horror every time some brilliant scientist (Like Francis Collins) speaks of his conversion to Christ.

Hitchens comments on Woolf's Eliot-reponse: "Look at these bilious, ill-tempered words: 'Shameful, obscene, dead to us all.' There has always seemed to me to be something frantic and enraged about this passage, concealing its real emotion -- which I suspect is fear that Eliot, as well as being a greater talent than her, may also be right."

               

Does God really confide in us?

The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.          Psalm 25:14

See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declared; before they spring into being I announce them to you. Isaiah 42:9

For the LORD detests a perverse man, but takes the upright man into His confidence. Proverbs 3:32

How does He speak to us this way?

Through His Word - not only has He confided His plan for the ages, He also opens our eyes to see what He is doing right now around us - in our lives and in the lives of those we love.


Through prayer - His Spirit opens our ears to hear His voice and opens our hearts to receive the message. Sometimes it is just a whisper, and sometimes it is a loud a-ha moment of joy!

Through His community - the people He has brought into ourlives - sometimes we can glean great truths and guidance from them - no one comes into our lives by accidence.

Through circumstances - sometimes it is just so obvious!

What we know:

• God tells us what we need to know when we need to know it. Not before.

• God always takes the initiative in revealing His heart to us.

     Whether I can hear His voice depends on my closeness to Him, my living in His Presence, and my love for Him.

As we become aware of His Presence it will become easier for us the see the way we should go.

Instead of wondering about the road ahead we will focus on staying in communication with Him.

We shouldn't go through life like a sleep-walker, just following our own regular routines and personal agendas.

We should look beyond those rutted paths and let Him lead us onto new trails of adventure and freedom.

He will reveal to us new glorious truths all along the way.

Just stay with Him. Don't let go of His hand!

Anticipating Easter - Max Lucado

A party was the last thing Mary Magdalene expected as she approached the tomb on that Sunday morning.

The last few days had brought nothing to celebrate. 

The Jews could celebrate -- Jesus was out of the way.

The soldiers could celebrate -- their work was done.

But Mary couldn't celebrate. To her the last few days had brought nothing but tragedy.

Mary had been there. She had heard the leaders clamor for Jesus' blood. She had witnessed the Roman whip rip the skin off his back. She had winced as the thorns sliced his brow and wept at the weight of the cross.

In the early morning mist she arises from her mat, takes her spices and aloes and leaves her house, past the Gate of Gennath and up to the hillside.

She anticipates a somber task. By now the body will be swollen. His face will be white. Death's odor will be pungent.

A gray sky gives way to gold as she walks up the narrow trail. As she rounds the final bend, she gasps.

The rock in front of the grave is pushed back.

"Someone took the body." She runs to awaken Peter and John. They rush to see for themselves. She tries to keep up with them but can't.

Peter comes out of the tomb bewildered and John comes out believing, but Mary just sits in front of it weeping. The two men go home and leave her alone with her grief.

But something tells her she is not alone. Maybe she hears a noise. Maybe she hears a whisper. Or maybe she just hears her own heart tell her to take a look for herself.

"Why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him."

She still calls him "my Lord." As far as she knows his lips are silent. As far as she knows his body has been carted off by grave robbers. But in spite of it all, he is still her Lord.

Such devotion moves Jesus. It moves him closer to her. She turns and there he stands. She thinks he is the gardener.

Now Jesus could have revealed himself at this point. He could have called for an angel to present him or a band to announce his presence. But he didn't.

He doesn't leave her wondering for long, just long enough to remind us that he loves to surprise us. He waits for us to despair of human strength and then intervenes with heavenly. God waits for us to give up and then -- surprise!

Has it been a while since you let God surprise you?

It's easy to reach the point where we have God figured out.

We know exactly what God does. We break the code. We chart his tendencies. God is a computer. If we push all the right buttons and insert the right data, God is exactly who we thought he was.

Have you got God figured out?

If so, then listen. Listen to God's surprises.

Hear the rocks meant for the adulterous woman drop to the ground.

Listen as Jesus invites a death row convict to ride with him to the kingdom in the front seat of the limo.

Listen as the Messiah whispers to the Samaritan woman, "I who speak to you am he."

Listen to the widow from Nain eating dinner with her son who is supposed to be dead.

And listen to the surprise as Mary's name is spoken by a man she loved -- a man she had buried.

"Miriam."

"Miriam," he said softly. "Surprise!"

When she heard her name she responded correctly. She worshiped him.

The scene has all the elements of a surprise party -- secrecy, wide eyes, amazement, gratitude.

But the celebration is mild in comparison with the one that is being planned for the future.

It will be similar to Mary's, but a lot bigger.

Many more graves will open. Many more names will be called. Many more knees will bow. And many more seekers will celebrate.

It's going to be some party! I want to make sure my name is on the guest list.
 
How about you?

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, 

No mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him

--1 Corinthians 2:9

-- From Six Hours One Friday, by Max Lucado, Chapter 18.

Anticipating Easter - Gethsemane Prayer (2) - Charles Spurgeon

Then Jesus went with  His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then He said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here an keep watch with Me."

Going a little further, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will."
      -- Matthew 26:36-39


There are several instructive features in our Savior's prayer in His hour of trial, says Charles Spurgeon.

In Morning and Evening, for March 22, he tells us:

It was a filial prayer. You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject -- you have forfeited them by your treason, but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Do not be afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."

It was a prayer of resignation. "Yet not as I will, but as You will"...

Let it be as God wills, and God will determine for the best.

Be content to leave your prayer in His hands who knows when to give and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold.

So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with humility and resignation,  you will surely prevail.

Anticipating Easter - Gethsemane Prayer - (1) Charles Spurgeon

Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."


He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, "My soul is over whelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep with with Me."


.....Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping...
                       Matthew 26:36-40


Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon:


There are several instructive features in our Savior's prayer in His hour of trial.


It was a lonely prayer.


He withdrew even from His three favored disciples.


Believer, be diligent in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial.


Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the church will not be sufficient; these are very precious, but the fragrance of heaven will be sweetest in your private devotions, where no ear hears but God's. 


--From Morning and Evening, March 22,

         Charles Spurgeon