When readers first encounter Ash Wednesday, they are often surprised. It is not a triumphant hymn of certainty. It is the prayer of a soul learning to repent. That is precisely why it remains one of T. S. Eliot's greatest Christian poems. Having come to faith in Christ, Eliot discovered what every believer eventually learns: conversion is not the end of the journey. It is the beginning. The Christian life is a continual turning toward God.

After last week's meditation on the wise men in Journey of the Magi, Eliot now takes us into the Temple at Jerusalem, where another elderly believer waits for the fulfillment of God's promise. Simeon had spent a lifetime waiting. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. Day after day he entered the Temple, watching and praying.