In the early mornings for the last month, I've been spending time with T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, the collection of four poems that Eliot considered to be his masterpiece. For years, I've been fascinated by several passages in the poem (portions of  "Little Gidding" in particular), and I wanted to finally come to understand the poem deeply. Written just before and during World War 2, the poems are expressions of hope in a dark time. I've found it relevant for our own time in many ways.

I've enjoyed this process of reading/studying the poem. I'm actually writing the poem out by hand. On the left-hand side of a notebook, I'm copying the text of the poem, and on the right-hand side, I'm annotating, with help from a study guide. This process has helped me to slow down and connect with each line. It's a great way to start the day, and I find that it prepares me to meet with God in His Word and in prayer a few minutes later. So far, I've made it through "Burnt Norton," "East Coker," and "The Dry Salvages," and at last I'm into "Little Gidding," my personal favorite of all that I've read of T. S. Eliot.

I've especially found this essay by Roger Scruton to be helpful in summing up Eliot's vision.