What's in a Name?

Many people have asked Jean and me about the provenance of our son's name. Eliot is after the brilliant 20th Century poet and playwright (and fellow Libran), T.S. Eliot. Andrew was both my Grandad's name and Jean's Grandpa's middle name. We each have a cousin named Andrew and, if Jean had been a boy, her name would have been Andrew. We could hardly leave the name out!

I obviously have boundless admiration for T.S. Eliot; I can't think of another poet who conveyed both utter despair and supernatural bliss more profoundly. Here's one of my favourite quotes from "The Dry Salvages" (part of the Four Quartets) that I think speaks volumes about parenting:

...These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.