Coffeegirl Book Club

Chapter 3 - The Shadow of a Tree

"Sin: she knew there was such a thing as plain sin, not something any psychiatrist could absolve or explain away. Even worse, the sins of omission. She quoted some poet whose name she did not know: 'O unattempted loveliness! / O costly valour never won!' "

Review of Important Highlights

Beyond the continued development of the story of Van and Davy’s love, The Shining Barrier that is, Chapter 3 introduces the second major story line of the book: their experience with Christianity. Both characters are confronted with the issue of Christianity, but at separate times and places. After a terrifying night when her sins “had come out and paraded before her, ghastly in appearance and mocking in demeanor,” the awareness of her own depravity weighs heavily upon Davy.

Several major elements of Van and Davy’s quest for “eternal springtime inloveness” are carried forward in this chapter, most notably the realization of their dream to sail the open waters together in their ship, Grey Goose. As Amy noted in last week’s discussion, Vanauken continues to remind us that they were pagans, though ironically their growing realization of this truth comes through individual, separate experiences – not in relation to their exclusive commitments of love to one another.

After a safe ending to a potentially dangerous situation is established, the shuddering fright “at the thought that we might have lost each other” further reinforces Van and Davy’s exclusive and absolute focus on one another. While their fright in response to the possibility of losing one another is quite natural, it recalls their previous commitment to take their own life if ever faced with losing one another in a tragedy. As the chapter draws to a close, a brief mention is made of an ultimately inaccurate diagnosis of an obscure ailment that prescribed a restful life for a few years. So after a season of sailing, followed by a season of studying and sailing, Van and Davy are now headed to England to fulfill a dream of studying at Oxford.

Points of Reflection

There are two primary passages in this chapter that stuck out to me. The first is Vanauken’s reflection in connection to his uneasiness with Davy’s awareness of her sinful nature. He writes, “But the truth was that I was far too remote from Christianity to judge anyone else’s distance from it…but I did not know the place from which all distances are measured.” Having grown up in a home centered on Christian truths and values, I often feel that my primary evaluation of things is their relation to Christianity. Vanauken’s statement really helped me to consider the abstract nature of Christianity for those who have regarded it as “a mere local religion of earth, quite inadequate for the immensities of the farflung galaxies.” His initial reflections on the oddity of highly intentional people believing in it, people who were previously atheists and agnostics, made me smile because I often find myself musing over the same thing.

The second passage I’ll comment on is one that I have always loved – the night of the sea-fire. Vanauken’s descriptive writing drew me in and nearly convinced me that I could feel the cool, fresh air around me and see the beauty of waters illuminated by glowing of the phosphorescence. My favorite part of the description, however, is the moment being “utterly timeless … contain[ing] therefore, some foretaste, it may be, of eternity.” The significance of this concept will be drawn out again in coming chapters, but for now the description of the moment is what has captured my thoughts.

What about you? How do you relate to the descriptions of recognizing spiritual truths in what appear to be momentary experiences? I’m curious to hear how your own spiritual journeys might be resonating with this account, or how they are different, as mine is. Let’s hear what you liked most and least about this chapter. I’ll be jumping back into the conversation this weekend – see you then!