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In 1948, Vanauken took a teaching position at [[Lynchburg College]]. However, when postwar travel to Europe became possible again, he took a sabbatical and he and Davy moved to England so that he could study at [[Oxford University]] (where he was awarded a [[British degree abbreviations#Bachelor's degrees|BLitt]] in 1957).<ref>Potter, ibid.</ref> While they were there, they became friends with a circle of young Christian students. Eventually, Davy "crossed the room" to become a devout [[Anglican]] Christian herself; she had reexamined her life and views on the nature of sin after a thwarted attempt by a stranger to assault her. Her conversion was also partly owing to the friendship and influence of [[C. S. Lewis]], who was teaching at Oxford at the time. In the spirit of the "Shining Barrier", Van followed her, but with less conviction and even with some resentment.
Upon their return to Lynchburg, Van continued teaching history and literature at Lynchburg College. They joined a local congregation and explored their faith further. It was eventually to be tested severely. Davy contracted a virus which attacked her liver, possibly picked up during their years of travel. At the time of her diagnosis in the summer of 1954, Vanauken had just resigned to accept a job offer from his alma mater, Wabash College, but asked Lynchburg to rehire him in order to stay near Davy's doctors, which they did.
A great part of ''A Severe Mercy'' concerns how Van came to grips with losing his beloved wife with the help of his increasing faith and his correspondence with Lewis, who soon was to face the loss of his own terminally ill wife. Vanauken later called the "Shining Barrier" he and Davy had created a "pagan love, invaded by Christ." He never remarried, and eventually converted to [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] in 1981.
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