Discussion 5 ~ Christy Read-Along

Welcome to the fifth discussion of the Christy read-along! ♥ If this is the first you've heard of the read-along, you can view the schedule in this invitation post.

Today we'll be discussing chapters 26-32. If you've already read these chapters, you can share your thoughts in the comments section below or in your own post! (Feel free to use the image above, linking back to the Christy read-along tag.) If you still need to catch up on the reading, you're welcome to check in whenever you're ready. :) We're happy to have you join us whenever you can!

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Christy: Chapters 26-32

Discussion format: your favorite quotes, general impressions, and three questions to answer for each week's reading

Favorite Quotes*

• "It's been the delight of my life to find God far more common-sense and practical than any human I know. The only time I ever find my dealings with God less than clear-cut is when I'm not being honest with Him. The fuzziness is always on my side, not His."

• "Fixin' onything is man's work," came Opal's firm answer. "Tearin' down or killin', that thar's easy. Any addle-pated fool kin pull the trigger of a rifle-gun or fling a rock. It's fixin' that's hard, takes a heap more doin'."

• "Ask questions, never be afraid of truth."

• "Preach the gospel, David, teach it, preach to the hearts of men. That's your business. Then the fruits, including the reforms in other areas, will follow as fruits."

• "When your heart is ablaze with the love of God, when you love other people—especially the rip-snorting sinners—so much that you dare to tell them about Jesus with no apologies, then never fear, there will be results."

• "The sun sifting through moving branches overhead would splinter the light into diamonds on the water, tossing them back into my eyes with such magic that I would want to shout and dance just for the joy of living—and usually did."

General Impressions

There are some rather suspenseful scenes in this section, from the men harassing the women in the mission house to the standoff at the McHones' home. I love that Opal could see God's love through Christy's appearance in the middle of that tense situation. And I love how Opal appealed to Bird's-Eye (in that second quote above).

There's also some great tragedy in this section in regards to the death of Tom. The conversation it led to between David and Miss Alice was so powerful. I think it goes really well with the sermon my husband and I heard at the church we visited this past Sunday, which was on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, addressing the utmost importance of the gospel and what we should remember about it. I just love those quotes from Miss Alice above (the fourth and fifth ones on my list), how if David wanted to see true change in the Cove he needed to focus on the gospel. Or, as the pastor we heard from on Sunday reminded us, the real problems in the world today are not politics or loneliness or suffering; the real problem is our sin, as it has always been. Yes, the other issues matter, but we will never find true comfort or undying hope or real direction apart from being made right with the Lord through Jesus' sacrifice and apart from seeking God first. It's so tragic that David doesn't seem to understand the power of the gospel, that he is so determined to fix the outer issues without getting to the heart of it all!

And as I was thinking about all this, I realized how much it ties in with Christy's conversation with Dr. MacNeill from the last section. He asked her, "Why don't you just concentrate on the school and the good works and forget all about the religious doctrines that just confuse the people anyway?" (page 325 in my copy). But if that's all the mission did, there would be no hope for real heart change in the people...no forgiveness or reconciliation...no purpose beyond their day-to-day lives...no true healing of the soul, only temporary fixes for the body, if that. If the mission focused on "the good works" apart from the gospel, well, they'd never be making a lasting difference or helping the people in the way they truly need it.

I just love the way the book is helping me think more about important truths through the characters in this story!

To finish off my thoughts on this section: David's proposal hardly seems loving and came out of the blue. I'm glad Christy didn't rush into an answer or feel pressured to say yes. Of course, I love the scenes with Fairlight and the descriptions of her nature outings with Christy. I'm curious about what might come of the "Compt book" and Bird's-Eye's note to Opal. And the account of the last day of classes was a lot of fun. :)

Discussion Questions

Answer any or all three of these questions in the comments section or in your own blog post!

1. What turn of events shocked or surprised you most in this section?

2. What do you think drove Christy to climb a mountain? Have you ever been driven to do something out of the ordinary or especially challenging for you? What was the experience like?

3. What was your favorite part or performance from the school's last-day festivities?

Join us next Friday for our sixth discussion! 

(Chapters 33-39)

*Catherine Marshall, Christy (New York: Avon, 2006), 341, 354, 365, 374, 375, 383.