Summary

Chapter Thirty-Four, “Crowns,” marks the beginning of Part VII, "Marriage." In this brief introductory chapter, the author describes several different marriage ceremonies without actually using the word. She ends each one with a reference to the guests catching “a glimpse of the mystery, if only for a moment” (237, et al).

The author continues with Chapter Thirty-Five, “Mystery.” Here, she recalls her own marriage, and how she felt herself and Dan catch a glimpse of “the Great Mystery” during the ceremony and throughout its prayers. She comments that “even though we started out young and poor and Republican, our marriage has been a happy one, and has made the meandering journey in and out of church a less lonely one for sure” (240). She then references how they received traditional, Christian, evangelically based guidance on how to be in a marriage, much of which...