The Shack

Okay, I promised I'd tell you about the book I've been reading, but I wanted to wait until I'd finished it. By now you've probably heard about The Shack. It's a 246-page bestseller! I had the book with me when I was taking depositions last week and two other people told me they were reading it! First let me say that I am not a book critic. I mostly read books recommended by dear friends, such as this one was. Secondly, I will say this is not the Bible and cannot be treated as God's Word. It is, however, the best fiction book I've ever read that portrays the love of our Heavenly Father. I won't give away the plot, but I will tell you that it addresses the age old question of, "If God is so loving, then why does He allow horrible things to happen?" I liken the answer to a joke told from the pulpit last Sunday. Since I'm not good at telling jokes, I'll just tell you the meaning of the punch line was that we can have as much or as little of our Heavenly Father as we choose. He loves every one of His creation. He can take our messes and make them beautiful. He can take evil and make it good. Our Creator gave us a free will, and while He would love for us to always reach to Him, He doesn't force us to do so. It's true that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, and that will be a final recognition of what we should have known all along. But what about now? What about our daily walk? Our struggles and even tragedies? Do we really believe God is with us through those? I know my answer. This book made me sob, laugh and sob some more. Probably the most poignant thing for me is something I already knew but had perhaps discounted as cliche is the fact that Jesus is present with every child in the midst of tragedy, every child in the throws of loneliness, every child who is not being tucked in by his or her parents ...

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear what you thought about it so please leave a comment.