Before his conversion to Christianity, Eliot had been known as the “enfant terrible” of the Bloomsbury set— which included Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, and E.M. Forster—writers in the first half of the twentieth century who rejected the social conventions of the day. In fact, Virginia Woolf predicted that Eliot would soon be tired of “Christian stiffness” and return to his former decadent lifestyle. But Eliot remained a firm believer in Christ for the remainder of his life.

In these lines of “Journey of the Magi”, Eliot asserts that the men had lived a prosperous life, able to afford the luxuries of that lifestyle. The gifts the Magi brought to the Christ Child would have been worth 4 million dollars in today’s economy. Rather than yearning to go back to that life of ease, the Magi on their journey became ashamed of the lives they had led, lives that had nothing to do with God. Elliot, as well, regretted the choices he had made before his conversion.

REFLECTION: Many people have a past that still haunts them. Jeremiah 31:3 says “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” No matter what we have done, God still loves us! If something from your past still bothers you, take a moment now to confess it and ask forgiveness.