Death is significant in the works of Charles Williams– his novels often touch on the nature of death, whether it is truly binding, and often the fact that it is a boon to those who are ready for it– who embrace it. The idea that it is powerful, magnificent and significant permeates his books. Upon his death in 1945, some of his closest literary friends put together a book entitled Essays Presented to Charles Williams. In it, the moving preface by C.S. Lewis states:
No event has so corroborated my faith in the next world as Williams did simply by dying. When the idea of death and the idea of Williams thus met in my mind, it was the idea of death that was changed (xiv)
To be entirely honest, despite all the head knowledge I had, death was still a bit uncomfortable to think about. Then, while in Oxford for a second time and on the C.S. Lewis Tour, it was mentioned in passing that Charles Williams was buried in St. Cross as we drove past. I was so excited by this that I could hardly pay attention to the rest of the tour, and directly after returning went straight over. If you follow Longwall up from Magdalen, the first church on the right is the correct one. Go in the little gate after the crossing and go straight along the small path until you reach the church. Clamber down from the upper level of the graveyard using the small rough steps/path by the building, then cut immediately right and go straight. The row with Williams will be on your left, look for a well kept 1800s grave not far along. I, of course, did not know these helpful instructions at the time. Instead I stared at the rather large churchyard filled with headstones and imagined several hours of searching before finding him. Therefore I did the very obvious– I prayed for some assistance in the matter! Within about five minutes I’d instinctively walked right up to the correct grave.
As I slowly came to grips with the fact I truly was standing beside it– that quote from the Essays came once more to my mind. I have never been so deeply moved before or since, than that moment when I realized that I was standing next to his grave. It is difficult to explain to someone who has not immersed themselves in the works of Williams, but all discomfort when thinking of death completely vanished. And yet, never had death been so keenly powerful and dangerous– as well as beautiful.
I returned daily and nightly during my stay in Oxford, and one particular evening it was extremely dark. There are no lights at the church, so once I left the main road and entered the churchyard, I could barely see the headstones a few feet away. Yet while often I am a bit afraid of the dark– particularly in graveyards, St. Cross was safe. In fact it was the safest I have ever felt, because I seemed to understand that though the veil between the spiritual and physical world was thin, it was also divinely “Under the Mercy”. The fact that it was his grave– Charles Williams grave, made it for me one of the most important places on this planet.
Works Cited
Lewis, C.S. Foreword. Essays Presented to Charles Williams.
Ed. C.S. Lewis. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.
