lots of people have been reading the shack these days, especially those in blogland where word is on the street. what i am finding, though, is many people have never heard of it. it hasn’t made its way into the mainstream yet, but i definitely have a sense that its on its way there. i am sort of over “the next great book that will change your life forever” mentality. i will say this about the shack, though: i am glad i read it. it was a nice little mind & heart-bender during a time of a lot of spiritual wrestling, transforming, wondering & wandering.
the shack offered a wonderfully challenging view of the trinity, along with all kinds of examples of how we have such a distorted view of God & life. these distortions continually destroy our peace, freedom….life. we’ve gotten robbed by religion & rules & a crazy misinterpretation of the big idea. i found the metaphors in the book intriguing; something about them really resonated in my heart. i don’t think it’s something that can be really explained or fleshed out withut reading it. i will just say that it is worth checking out. it’s definitely not a literary masterpiece so don’t expect pulitzer-prize-winning writing, but i was a little surprised that despite being a little corny initially i ended up feeling something stir in my heart that needed a little stirring.
here are a few excerpts that i loved enough to write down, spoken by each of the three main characters–God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit:
“there’s no easy answer that will take away your pain. believe me, if i had one, i’d use it now. i have no magic wand to wave over you and make it all better.” – God
“life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship” – God
“do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever pictures me there with you?” – God
“does that mean (asked Mack) that all roads will lead to you?” “most roads don’t lead anywhere. what it does mean is that i will travel any road to find you…” Jesus
“love that is forced is no love at all” – one of the three, i can’t remember and i already loaned out my book!
“it is true that relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of the heart and they will never love you.” – the Holy Spirit
“i am more attuned to verbs than nouns. verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing and on and on. humans, on the other hand, have a knack for taking a verb that is alive and full of gracea nd turning it into a dead noun or principles that reek of rules.” – the Holy Spirit
“forgiveness is not about forgetting…it is about letting go of another person’s throat.” – Jesus
i really like the idea that maybe we are missing the point, that the expanse of God is so much bigger, wider, stronger, kinder, more loving and real than many of us have been taught.