The Shack

-
 The Shack by Wm. Paul Young.

A man's world is forever changed when his daughter is murdered. Evidence suggests it happened in a shack in the back woods. Four years later the man, Mack, returns to the shack and has a conversation with God. Sounds hokey. I know. And yet, I found myself racing through the pages.

Growing up Catholic I went to catechism and church. I learned about God and the Catholic faith. I was told to believe. And I did. But I don't remember hearing much, if anything, about spirituality and if I did, I certainly didn't understand what it was. The Shack is about both spirituality and religion, but mostly it is about love.

My favorite exchange is between Mack and Jesus (page 184). Jesus is the first speaker.


          "Who said anything about being a Christian? I'm not Christian." 


          The idea struck Mack as odd and unexpected, and he couldn't keep himself from grinning. "No, I suppose you aren't."


          They arrived at the door of the workshop. Again, Jesus stopped. "Those who love me have come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptisits or Muslims; some are Democrats, some Republicans and many don't vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved."

For me the aftermath of this read has been the best part. I feel a bit of calm when I think about the bigger picture and I am not as stressed about finding "something" to believe in. I definitely recommend the read.

* I will say that there was a part when Mack first got to the shack that started to seem WAY to far fetched for my liking, and as I debated putting the book away, I flipped to the After Words and read the first paragraph. It gave me enough insight that I was able to buy into what was going on in the story.



Comments

  1. AngieJanuary 15, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    I found it to be an interesting read. The one thing that sticks with me is how when Mack first meets God, God is a black woman (I think...) which reminded me of the oracle from the Matrix :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 16, 2012 at 3:52 PM

    Ooooh, I have been looking for a good read for a while now, and will definitely pick this one up on our trip to the library on Wednesday!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 hours off

-
Image
Calder missed nailing our baby's arrival by 4 hours. Boone James Hamilton was born at 3:59 this morning. Boone is doing well. We got back some positive test results today and will hopefully get the remaining few tomorrow. He gets to spend the night with us and at this point that is all we can ask!
Read more

Another embarassing one

-
Image
On Tuesday, I had this brilliant post formulated in my head. Then just before supper the power went out. Although the internet went down with the power, I still could have just written it on the computer to publish in the morning. Instead, I took full advantage of a sick child (who slept on the couch most of the evening) and a husband who was in the city (at his Grade 8's Farewell). I read. And also did some texting. But mostly I read (There was a moment that I thought I should conserve the power on my cell phone in case it the power took its sweet time coming on, but it was short lived. I figured that I could always go charge it in the van. Hugh was glad that it didn't get to that. He pictured me not getting the garage door open (I would have had to have manually open since there wasn't any power). Then he pictured me sitting in the van dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. I wish he would have given me a little more credit when this elaborate daydream was running t...
Read more

Guest Post Luke: Men at Ikea

-
Image
     I've recently been blessed with 2 trips to Ikea in the last 3 months, and with a lot of time on my hands while in Ikea I came to notice a few similarities in all the men walking around there.   As I was taking notes on every man I saw, and mostly myself , I came up with different types of guys and what their role was with their significant other.          The first guy, who I believe to be the most common, is "The Turn Back Man".  This man believes that, just like in racing, if he stays in front of his significant other he can use drafting to increase her speed and keep her on track.  This never works and he subsequently becomes the "Turn Back Man".  He is constantly 4 steps ahead and turning back over and over when SHE sees something else they "might" need.  It is tough, because when entering Ikea men want to do as little walking as possible, but this has us taking even more steps. It is the slight chance that ...
Read more