Surprised by Oxford

 I have always loved to read. When I was a boy, I built a treehouse in the persimmon tree outside our kitchen window, a haphazard assembly of used boards that made a comfortable platform between the limbs where I sat concealed and shaded above the roofline of our house.  I spent hours in that tree reading. It was like a time machine, transporting me to distant places, past and future.  I still read constantly and enjoy a pretty wide spectrum.  I appreciate a good book.  

 A few weeks ago, a good friend, a retired physician, suggested a book he thought I should read.  On the strength of his recommendation, I downloaded a copy of Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Webber. Carolyn grew up in Canada.  Her mom raised her and her sister in a single parent home after her father’s alcoholism destroyed the marriage.  Her home life was poor, but Carolyn emerged as a particularly gifted and brilliant student.  Upon graduation she was awarded a full scholarship to study literature at Oxford University.

 She arrived in Oxford, a starry-eyed freshman with a healthy case of skeptic agnosticism. She says she grew up in a loosely European Catholic household.  The last thing she expected to discover in her studies at Oxford was faith.  She says of herself, “I had been so focused on the head that I did not see what was coming for the heart or, perhaps for all of me. … I had no real need for believing in men, God incarnate or otherwise.” 

 Years ago, my young nephew asked to meet with me.  He was in college and had chosen to study literature. He said he discovered that most great English literature makes constant references to Scripture.  He said he felt at a loss.  He had never studied the Bible and knew little about it.

 In the context of her literature studies at Oxford, Carolyn Webber began to read the Bible. She says, “I found it the most compelling piece of nonfiction I had ever read. … It unwinds and recasts the world and our perception of it: that the Holy Grail is more likely to be a wooden carpenter’s cup than the golden chalice of Kings.”

 In her book, Surprised by Oxford, Carolyn Webber articulately and honestly describes the journey that led her not only to MPhil and DPhil degrees at Oxford, but to a genuine discovery of abundant faith, a faith that other Oxford scholars have known, including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

 She wrote, “To be one person one moment, lost. Then to be another person the next moment, found. It is the difference, as they say, between night and day. Outwardly, I seemed the same, but inwardly everything had changed.”

  She went on to teach Romantic Literature at Seattle University.  She also taught at Westmont College, University of San Francisco and Oxford University.  She was the first female dean of St. Peter’s College, Oxford.

 Her book won the Grace Irwin Award , the largest award for Christian writing in Canada.  Surprised by  Oxford was made into a movie and released in theaters in September 2023.

Love Never Fails

 Five years ago, Amber Guyger was found guilty of murder.  She had returned to her apartment after a long day as a Dallas police officer to find what she thought was a intruder in her home. She drew her gun and fired, killing a young black man, 26-year-old Botham Jean.  But, it wasn’t her home. The apartment she entered was one floor directly above her own and the man she killed was her neighbor, at home eating a bowl of ice cream.

 Amber, who is white, was fired from the Dallas Police force.  It took a year for the trial to work its way through the courts.  The jury unanimously found Amber Guyger guilty of murder.  She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.  Many celebrated the fact that a police officer was held accountable for killing an unarmed and innocent young black man. 

 But the courtroom was stunned when the victim’s brother, Brandt Jean, asked permission to speak.  Nervously tugging at his collar, Brandt looked at Ms. Guyger and said, “I personally want the best for you. And, I wasn’t going to say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don’t even want you to go to jail.  I want the best for you. Because, that is exactly what Botham would want you to do.  And the best is to give your life to Christ.” He paused, wiped his eyes and spoke to the judge. “I don’t know if this is possible, but, can I give her a hug?” The judge consented.

 Brandt Jean met his brother’s killer in front of the judge’s bench.  He said to her, “If you are truly sorry, I know … I speak for myself, I forgive you. And I know if you go to God and ask him, He will forgive you.”  They embraced one another as they wept.

 The courtroom that a few minutes before was jubilant with vengeance fell silent except for the sound of people sobbing.  After the courtroom was cleared Guyger asked the judge, Tammy Kemp, if she thought God could forgive her.  Kemp told her, “Yes, God can forgive you and already has.” The judge then gave Guyger one of her personal Bibles.  None of this, of course, changes anything in terms of the verdict and the sentence that Amber Guyger is serving. But it changes everything in the matters of the heart. 

 Five years ago, in a Dallas courtroom the conversation changed from prejudice, vengeance, resentment and rage to acceptance, forgiveness and love. 

 Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions”

 Jesus gave us the supreme example when he hung upon the Cross, lifted His eyes to heaven and prayed, "’Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).

William Tinsley's Civil War Novel,  BOLD SPRINGS is FREE as an eBook on Amazon September 3-6. Click the image to the right.