September - reading "The Shack"

September was quite a month!
We celebrated lots of family birthdays, our 3rd wedding anniversary, the SummerSet music festival, I started taking French classes again, we visited with family and friends, and I tried to read a lot more.

One book that I started in the later half of September was the new hit book The Shack. I haven’t finished reading it yet (I’m a bit of a slow reader), but thus far here are a few thoughts about the book.

For those of you who haven’t heard about The Shack, it is a novel about a man who has experienced a horrific life experience (so awful I was crying as I read through the first couple chapters), and then received a note from God to meet him out at a shack in the woods.

When he arrives at the shack, he actually meets God in all three forms (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

David Gregory, author of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, says that The Shack is “An exceptional piece of writing that ushers you directly into the heart and nature of God in the midst of agonizing human suffering.”

I love the quote (paraphrase), that Jesus isn’t interested in Religion, he’s interested in Relationships. This book really shows how God is building relationship with the character, how he is working within our human limitation to reach us, and interact with us…maybe not literally, like it is in the Shack, but I really feel that God can build a two way relationship with us here on earth, even though we can’t see or touch him.

We need to pray! The Bible tells us to “Pray Without Ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I’m not a preacher, so I’m not going to preach, but I want to reiterate that God wants to build relationships with all of us and that one key component to any relationship is communication. Prayer is one medium to communicate with God and we are asked to pray continuously.

So, do I recommend The Shack? Yes… The Shack is a great tool to illustrate God’s nature, but it is only a novel. To build a true relationship with God we need regular prayer, Bible study and fellowship (just to name a few things).

Hope this blog wasn’t too deep…but those are my thoughts for the day!
xoxo ~ love you all!