The Shack

I have had many people suggest that I read the book "The Shack" as they wanted to hear what I would say about what the author had to say about God and about religion. Without going into depth about the book and I would recommend that one should read the book, there were a couple of things that I found to inspire me and to challenge me. I will tell you that I read the book in one day, really about in 3 hours, and I was moved to laughter and tears. The story itself is compelling and once I started I had to complete the book. There are only a few books that I have found that have been so moving that I wanted to complete the book in one meal. I lost time while reading.
With that said and certainly I would encourage one to read the book before continuing with this blog, there were a couple of things that I wanted to comment on. The first was the presentation of the Triune God. I found what the author had to say to match my belief about God. That God contains in the God-Self a relationship of three, as the book states Papa, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. To often we try to make God hierarchical and structured. The very process tends to limit God to some concept that we have as created beings. God is limitless and yet relational. Perhaps that is the Great Mystery of God. We cannot define God though we try. This is especially true when we use gendered language as a means of describing God. The book has a way of helping one see through the general stereotypes that have been passed down for generations. What comes out is that it matters not what God looks like, whether God is a grandfather white male or an African-American woman. What matters is that God desires to have a relationship with you and I however that would appear to us. I found that the book begins to provide some insight into what stereotypes that we have with our conception of God and how that does not limit God but does limit ourselves. I reflected on the ways that I tend to try to limit God to be something that I would feel comfortable with. Even when I attempt to do that God remains limitless and continues to reach out with us.
The other comment I wanted to reflect on was the author's opinion about Religion which was generally negative. I noticed that he tended to capitalize the word. He was raising the issues of the stereotypes that Religion tends to perpetuate. There were several ideas that he raised that I would tend to agree. One of them being so caught up in rules and rituals that one forgets that the primary reason for gathering together is to be in relationship with one another. At the same time, he fails to look at the benefits of religion as to reaching out to others and sharing God's love with one another. I came away from the book feeling that it dealt more with individual salvation rather than the salvation of the creation. He did talk about that very issue taking an almost universal salvation approach. But it seemed to focus on just what I do rather than what we can do together. We are studying the Gospel of Matthew and exploring how the Pharisees are protrayed as so caught up in rules and rituals that they fail to perceive their need for relationship with God and with one another. What I feel the author states whether he meant that or not, substitutes one form of demand for another. Though of the two, I much prefer his. I do feel there is a need to have religion if we remember that worship and liturgy means the work of the people. We gather primarily to love God and love one another as Jesus commands. When we become so concerned about who is in and who is out, we fail in our own relationship with God.
I again would encourage one to read the book if you have not. I would like to take the book and have a discussion with those who have read it. I am sure that many will be moved as I was.