.. not i, said the wolf
used to be i wouldn't ever have considered reading ' heretical ' crud like this
most of that position having been based on
the comments of the people-in-power in my own religious corner of my world
and the indoctrination i underwent as a budding badass fundamentalist
in the days when fundamentalism was really hardcore ..
i cut teeth on a biblebelt buckle ..
those were the days we considered billy graham a liberal ..
the billy graham
..
so, knowing something of the up-in-armsedness of the ruling religious right elite in this country, i mindlessly sidelined The Shack as a useless, and probably deceptive, misleading, and possibly dangerous, attempt to make light of Godstuff, to reduce it to a liberalized pop version, suck all the umph out of it and render it on a plate of unidentifiable mush ..
.. shouldn't have done that ..if there's anything i should've learned in the last decade+ it's to not simply rely on them ( or anyone ) to determine my journey, my path ..
it's my path
..
i don't remember what it was that nudged me in the direction of the book, but whatever it was turned into an experience i will not be able to adequately describe here, or anywhere ..
the book was, for me, a massive, paragon-ic, think-altering, refreshing, confirmatory release of a lifetime of burdensome slavish commitment to a god who is sovereignly all-powerful and vindictive and will get ' his ' pound of flesh in the end ..
that's about as concise as i can be
`|`
talk about shocked ..
i was moved
radically shaken
while a long wide smile warmed the inside of my soul ..
this was a wonderful telling, almost defying words
this worded story that was never meant to be read by the public us
and i experienced a deep-running pleasure that simply wanted to be in this for a long time ..
i didn't want it to end
..
i considered not writing about it
leaving it alone for fear of ruining the power of this story welltold
since reading the book, i've recommended it, given it to 2 friends, begun reading it with 2 other young friends, been to the movie and re-been with 2 friends ..
i've also discussed it with several people
a daring move in some instances where i know the folk are like i used to be ..
`|`
i really haven't read the naysayings
i don't intend to either
i heard enough of their banter ..
i can only imagine the stench of their ire
some squatting by a fire, intentionally sharpening their swords
while others plan their rebuff, complete with bible verses and doctrines-so-called
others blocking 'friends' and unfollowing people they no longer respect because now they've shown themselves to be unworthy of God and the true Guardians of the True Truth ..
imagine the gall of attempting to reduce the eternal unchangeable doctrines of God to a storybook ! ..
..
i decided to put a word in the fire
i saw the Lord high and lifted up
and the train of glory filled the space
a glorious and magnificent God
who inspired wonder and delight and marvel and a warm glowing recognition of the god who was there all along ..
only hidden from sight by the mud-splashed spectacles
diffused into a thousand rays of unintelligible light,
scattered all across the landscape, like so much wind-blown pollen,
infecting ..
imagine .. we infected people with a god of our own making
for fear somebody else's god would become Chief Infector
and it took an unheard-of plebe, writing a fictional rendition of his Godthoughts for his children with narry an intention of publishing, to undo the wickedness of our theology, unhinge the fearsome god from his place in the throneroom where we tethered him and cast him out
allowing us the room to imagine ( again ), in childish wonder, the God that is there, here ..
the God who is grounded in love
all other ' attributes ' taking their lead from right there
who loves us all as God's own
creatures created in the image and likeness of Godself
created to be like God
allowing us to breathe again
to breathe-in the swift winsome powerful spirit of this God who simply will not let us go
`|`
i can imagine the stress of the ' heresy ! ' criers
.. their walls have been breached, their security undone, their influence threatened
what else could they do ?
and it has been done in the form of a story
not a theological treatise or magnum opus or systematic theology
a story
told in the genre of the average
accessible
understandable
relatable
recognizable
`|`
first thing that sMacks you across the cheek is the presentation of God as a black woman ..
masterful
leaves your/my religion reeling from the blow ..
i imagine there are many who threw the book out at that point ..
but, besides the fact that god is spirit, engendering no gender,
and therefore can either be portrayed as ' it ' or more sensibly as he or she
there is a purpose in the story for the female rendering
and the later-on male rendering
if we'd just read along long enough to get it
..
and then there's this unmatched unity
a shocking agreement
almost goofy cameraderie among the 3
Papa, Sarayu, Jesus
an infused interchangeable exchange of places in an untiring dance of mutual interpleasure and co-recognition
..
obvious to the story is an insatiable desire of this God to embrace every last human ever ..
in the words of Mack/Papa
" is there anyone you're not especially fond of ? "
and Papa's response that they are all my children ..
.. even Mack's severely abusive father
yea, even the horrible abducter and killer of Mack's Missy
of whom Papa said to Mack, in explaining why Mack must forgive even him,
" he too is my child; i desire to redeem him too " ..
shocking to many of us
unheard-of ..
..
the magnanimous untiring love of this God for all creation, all humanity, is entirely shocking ..
we pen our tomes on the ' love of God '
but i have barely ever seen anything so clarifying
so refreshing
so blatantly easygoing
so pure ..
it stands-out to me as the confirming of my own ' wish ' for this kind of God to be real
to be the God that is there
in the face of all the wrathful pontificating from the pulpit and the gilded seminary halls ..
..
a final comment, and a more personal one ..
my favorite part of the book, the place where my heart burst and tears flowed freely
was when Jesus invited Mack to walk with him
on the water
and they ran, laughing all the while ..
it's significant to me because i believe that's precisely what Jesus wanted Peter
( and others ) to experience
the freedom to be truly human, empowered
as God intended in the creation event ..
vibrant images of the selfsame CreatorGod
endowed with the practical privilege of representing this God in the Earth that was ' good ' in the making
looking-after the masterfully mysterious oddity of this strange Earth-creation
that baffled the Watchers as they watched ..
.. " what is this human that you consider them so ?? "
..
as for the theology
i find very little in the story to undermine what i have come to see is God ..
admittedly i had to sideline and trash a lot of what i was taught
as an upandcoming christian expert ..
but that happened long before i read the book
i had already parked that god, took the keys and walked away ..
this is the God i've come to know and love and follow wholeheartedly
`|`
i wish i was able to do justice to this book ( and movie )
i only wish you would forgive my paltry attempt to give it the honour it so deserves
and read the book
and see the movie
please ..
`|`
a contextual note:-
and please take this in the spirit given ..
i have spent a large part of my life immersing myself in theology ..
it has been my overriding concern and primary interest for the last 30 years
and i've given myself to little else as a pastime/'hobby'/interest ..
so that when i say this book is one of the most remarkable things i've ever read about God, that statement means a whole lot ..
i sincerely ask you to read it ..
it will bless you immeasurably
if you are willing to put aside any preconceptions and simply approach it as a story about God
i've tried to impress you with the significance of this little book ..
i hope you respond ..
peace to you
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