Wow, this is one of those books that you just keep getting nuggets of Gold or Pearls in this case!
I don’t often read fiction books but it seems every time I do, there is a great blessing that awaits. This book was given to me by a friend and church member and I am thankful to Donna for the gift.
There were a lot of emotions associated with this one; tears, laughter, anger, joy and so many more. I want to be able to relate for you the beauty of this book and at the same time not give away the story line as hopefully many of you will be intrigued and read it for yourselves. By the way, if you don’t intend to read it I will be glad one on one to tell you the story.
The Shack is the unlikeliest of success stories. The first and only book written by a salesman from Oregon, it was never supposed to be published. William P. Young wrote the tale for the benefit of his children and after its completion in 2005, it was copied and bound at Kinko’s in time for him to give it to his children for Christmas.
Windblown Media is negotiating with film studios about the possibility of a movie version of The Shack.
The Shack attempts to explain where God is in the pain of this world that has gone wrong. We all ask the hard questions from time to time and especially when tragedy hits us personally. It is often hard to believe if we will be honest with ourselves that a good God could possibly allow tragedies such as, the death of a child, not to mention a child that is kidnapped, tortured and then killed.
The story is about a man called Mack who loses his six year old daughter in a tragic situation and then Mack spends a weekend with the Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at the scene. Mack is taught by the Trinity what all theses things mean and by that I mean they go back to the beginning of creation and talk about how man chose to go his on way and not follow the plan that God had laid out for their ultimate relationship with Him.
Where is God when these things happen and why would He allow them?
Here is a great quote from the book.
“Nobody knows what horrors I have saved the world from ‘cuz people can’t see what never happened. All evil flows from independence and independence is your choice. If I were simply to revoke all the choices of independence, the world as you know it would cease to exist and love would have no meaning. This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil. Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say. Now it touches everyone that I love, those who follow me and those who don’t. If I take away the consequences of peoples choices, I destroy the possibility of love. Love that is forced is no love at all.”
The book gives a new perspective on what the characters (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit) would look like if we could see them. When I say new I mean different from the traditional norm. If you are from a background where things are very strict I challenge you to read the book with an open mind and a non-judgemental mindset. God the Father is portrayed as a large black woman. The writer makes it clear that he is not saying that God is a woman but rather there is a feminine side to God or a mothering side.
There are a lot of radical lessons in this book that are biblical, such as radical forgiveness. It s a shame that this work of fiction is one of not more than 3 or 4 places where I have witnessed biblical forgiveness of someone who has hurt you.
Get the book, it is worth the $8.99 @ Amazon
Ronnie
