The Shack

I just finished reading the highly acclaimed book by William P. Young, The Shack.  I read it quickly, as it proved to be a good book.

It kept popping up on my recommended list for Amazon, and I was starting to get annoyed as it didn’t look like a typical book I would read.  (Apparently I never listened to the cliche about judging a book…)  When I finally succumbed to curiosity and clicked the link, I quickly realized this was a book a lot of people were talking about, and seriously.

I ordered it then, but when it arrived I added it to a growing stack of “books to read” and had no great sense of urgency about getting to it.  Then one day I stumbled on a blog by John G. Stackhouse, Jr., a former professor of mine from Regent College.  (In October I’ll be leading worship at the Convention’s Evangelism Conference where he will speak.)  In four extended entries he commented on the book and I decided I should wait no longer…

I won’t comment in detail here, other than to say it was a great read and that it gave me a completely new set of vibrant personal images for understanding the Trinity.  Not to spoil things too much, but the personification of God as a large black woman from the south really resonated with me.  (And to have had her still referred to as “Papa” helped to re-emphasize that God is beyond gender.)  That characterization conjures a remarkable person in my mind, a woman who is equally a “nobody messes with mama” kinda of lady as well as one whose smile lights up a room, whose hug envelops you, whose home is always open, table always filled, and whose love and joy is absolutely contagious.  A wonderful picture of what God is like!

There’s much more to the book, but for now suffice it to say that if you haven’t read it - you should!