Happy Birthday

On Sept. 26, 1888, Thomas Stearns Eliot was born.

I know "The Waste Land" is regarded as his masterpiece, but my favorite is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." There's a novel's worth of character and theme packed into those 130+ lines. when I first read this poem in college, I thought it was terrific. Now it seems more terrifying, and more fearfully rich the older I get.

It's fun to imagine which would have bothered Eliot more: That his great plays "Murder in the Cathedral" and "The Cocktail Party" have scarcely ever been produced in the last 30 years? Or that his slightest, most frivolous work was set to music by Andrew Lloyd Weber, of all people, and subsequently played on Broadway for 30 years? (It could be worse — "Quartos: The Musical!")

Since T.S. Eliot is regarded as one of the foremost writers of the 20th century, and since he was also a Christian, he makes a good candidate for a snarky-but-fun little game I like to call "Torment the Mustard Seed."

The Mustard Seed is a chain of "Christian book stores" in the Philadelphia area. You may not have a Mustard Seed near where you live, but you've likely got something similar, probably called something like "Family Christian Books" or "The Fisherman's Net" or worse. Despite the name "book store," most of the floor space in these shops tends to be taken up with knick-knackery, Precious Moments, greeting cards, WWJD bracelets, fish magnets, etc. Plus a very few books.

"Torment the Mustard Seed" is a very simple game. Pick some great work of Christian literature — Donne's Holy Sonnets or The Brothers Karamazov, say — then call up your local Christian book store and ask if they have a copy. Try to seem surprised when they tell you they don't have it — "This is a Christian book store, isn't it?"

In honor of Eliot's birthday, why not give your local Christian book store a call and ask for a copy of his Christianity and Culture.