The Shack

The Shack, a novel by William Young, is the scene of a murderous crime. It is also a symbolic place of healing and an opportunity to experience God's love. Although The Shack may be a work of fiction, the affection between the characters has had real-life impact on my own developing relationship with loving God.

The book's main character is Mack. Mack is happily married, loves his children well and demonstrations that love through action. His relationship with his kids is quite different from his experiences with his own father, an untreated drunk who justified abuse against Mack and his mother using passages from the Bible.

When Mack takes three of his children on a camping trip in the mountainous Pacific Northwest, his youngest, six-year-old, Missy, is abducted and killed. On a search for her body, Mack finds Missy's red and bloody dress in a remote shack in the woods. "The Great Sadness" descends upon Mack and stays until he returns to the shack for healing, forgiveness and to experience God's love directly.

It's a remarkable story. What it did for me was to provide permission to imagine a deeply affectionate relationship with a God who loves me exactly as I am, whose love for me never changes and whose love grounds me in all my relationships with others.

This is a daily journey. I started to articulate it in this blog with my God and Gays: Bridging the Gap: Part 1" post, and even looking back at it, I see how I am being transformed as I have more experiences with God's direct love for me.

I'm still on the journey.....