"The Shack" by William P. Young
This recent New York Times Bestseller was recommended to me by one of my former youth who admits that this is the first book he has read cover to cover since graduating high school. This fictional story is written as though the author is writing the book on behalf of a friend who has had a mystical encounter with God after experiencing a personal tragedy. The Foreword begins, "Who wouldn't be skeptical when a man claims to have spent an entire weekend with God, in a shack no less?" The format of the book leads to some confusion as to whether or not the author believes that these events actually occurred. So I went to the website, http://www.theshackbook.com/ to find some answers. The website is helpful for those that want to know more about the author and how the book came to be written. The author claims that while these events are fictional, they are true in the sense that they reveal his own wrestling with God after the death of his niece. I have read some reviews that question the author's theology. While I am glad that people are willing to think critically about the nature of God as portrayed in the book, I found myself so wrapped up in the character's personal journey and relationship with God that I often looked past theological differences. This book is not a theological treatise on the nature of the trinity, it is a story about someone wrestling with God after experiencing a "Great Sadness." This book will not appeal to everyone, but I do recommend this book for those interested in reading a fictional account of how one man wrestles with God after experiencing personal tragedy.
SPOILER WARNING! (Do not read past this line if you don't want me to spoil the book for you)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The foreward introduces the author (Willie) and the main character (Mack). Mack ran away from home after being physically and emotionally abused by his overly "religious" father. He is described as having a love/hate relationship with religion. Mack is now depicted as a loving husband and devoted father. I love the line that says, "while Mack's relationship with God is wide, Nan's (his wife) is deep" (11). Willie says that Mack used to know a lot about God while his wife really knew God. He then goes on to say that "Mack is no longer just wide, he has gone deep. But the dive cost him dearly." This brings him to the tragedy that occurs in his life, described as "the Great Sadness."
Mack receives an invitation in the mail for a weekend visit at the shack. It is signed by "Papa," which is Nan's nickname for God. Through some flashbacks we learn that Mack's daughter Missy was abducted and killed by a serial killer known as "the ladybug killer." The shack was where the killer's trail went cold. Mack decides to go visit "Papa." He brings a gun in case it is a set-up by the killer. But part of him expects to meet God.
When he gets to the shack in the middle of winter it is transformed in to a beautiful cabin in the middle of spring. Then he meets the trinity. Papa is a large African-American woman, Jesus is a friendly carpenter, and Sarayu is an ethereal Asian woman. This is the trinity as it appears to Mack. I liked the image of 2/3 of the trinity being represented by women because it tends to be the opposite (with Father and Son being gender specific). I was glad to see that none of the images for God are white, as this has often been the case in American and European art. I like Papa's response to Mack's confusion regarding a male name with a female image - "For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa is simply to mix metaphors, to help you keep from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning" (92). God is neither male or female. God is God. When God is compared to a rock, we don't think that God is literally a rock. So why do so many people get hung up on the idea that God is either a man or a woman. When Mack asks why there is so much emphasis on God as Father, Papa says one of the reasons is that God knew that once "creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed--but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence" (94). We will never fully comprehend God in this life. Therefore we can all benefit from asking how God is similar to and different from the images that we use to describe God.
After Mack's initial reaction to the trinity, he begins to relate to God. He has deep conversations with Papa, he hangs out with Jesus, and he tends his own spiritual garden with Sarayu. I love this book's emphasis on the need for personal relationship with God, but it often includes an anti-instituational bias. I admit that as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) I am a part of the institutional church. But what this book fails to see is that the church is not merely an institution. It is the body of Christ. The church is relational. It brings individuals into communion with God, each other, and the world. The institution is meant to facilitate these relationships by suppyling a regular meeting place, resources, and structure. Don't get me wrong, the church can become too rigid. But that doesn't mean we should give up on the institution, it means that we should always be willing to reform as we strive to discern where God is leading the church.
This book does not answer all of our questions or heal all of our hurts, but it does demonstrate that God is love and that God is especially fond of each and everyone of us.
