In order to understand T.S. Eliots poem, Choruses from The Rock, one must first understand Eliots views on contemporary theology and spirituality. He felt as if people were moving away from the Church and were losing their religion in favor of more secular worship. The following passage from Eliots poem can summarize his entire argument that he makes in Choruses from The Rock. But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before: though we know not just when, or why, or how, or where. Men have left GOD not for other gods, they say, but for no God; and this has never happened before that men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason, And then Money, and Power, and what they call Life, or Race, or Dialectic. The Church disowned, the tower overthrown, the bells upturned, and what have we to do but stand with empty hands and palms turned upwards in an age which advances progressively backwards? T.S. Eliot - Choruses from 'The Rock'Eliot complains that something has happened that has never happened before: for the first time, man stands alienated from God. He believes that man stands lonely, in great darkness, with no light to guide him; and Eliot is right. "Something has happened that has never happened before." One might ask why or how it has happened. These things do not happen in a certain moment. They happen so gradually that one never becomes really aware of when, where, or how. The civilized man has lost something because now we live in the man-made world where it is almost impossible to find any sign of God. God is hard to find in the asphalt roads or in cement structures. These things are not alive. How can one find God in machines or in technology? Even facing the greatest machine you cannot feel awe, you cannot feel reverence, you cannot feel like falling on your knees and praying. If you cannot feel like falling on your knees and praying once in a while, how can God remain a part of your being...
