The Shack

**Disclaimer: If you are content with how you 'view' God, don't read this book. You probably shouldn't read this post, either.**

I read The Shack, by William P. Young yesterday. I do that, sometimes. I get so into a book that I finish it in one day. The Shack isn't a long book, so that's not necessarily a huge feat, but it tells you what I think of this book.

And now, every person I see, I want to grab them by the shoulders, look into their eyes, and tell them to read this book. It's not often I get like this. I told Hubba Hubba about 42 times last night that he needed to read it.

The Shack has affected me in ways I will probably spend a long while understanding, but let me try to explain a bit of it, anyway.

First, you need to understand a bit about me. I met Jesus when I was 4, and regardless of what anyone has to say about the spiritual understanding of a 4 year-old, I know that's when I first met him. Sure, our relationship has grown and changed over the years, but that's where it began. Reading The Shack was another giant step forward. What has already (in the one day since I've read it) begun to change my relationship with God is the theology in it.

That word, theology, is enough to make some people decide not to read the book. So please understand when I write theology, I mean it in what I think is the truest sense of the word: studying God, and how we think of God. Theology doesn't have to be paragraph after paragraph of huge words like transubstantiation, although I suppose paragraphs like those have their place. They're in the books Hubba Hubba is more likely to read than I.

Smack dab in the middle of a great story is some good "stuff" (I don't want to keep writing theology) that challenges what I think are some common misconceptions about God. Some of it might make you uncomfortable. Some of it will probably relieve you greatly.

So, as I said in my disclaimer, if you're comfortable with how you 'understand' God (do we ever really understand Him? I hope not!) then you probably don't want to read this book. However, if you think you might want to see God in a way that makes Him much more relevant to your life, read this book. Also, if you are angry with God, read this book. You'll have a lot in common with Mack. If you think God is distant, read this book. If you're just looking for a good book to read, then you can still read The Shack.

And let me know what you think!

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

Last night seemed like any ordinary night. There we were, sitting peacefully in the living room, watching The Cosby Show, which is one of Hubba Hubba's favourites. (I won't tell you some of the others, it might embarrass him.) It was a good episode--the one where Rudy's sick, and Claire is up for partner at her law firm, so Cliff has to take care of her. Funny, funny stuff. At least BoBo doesn't get his temperature taken "the baby way."

But back to our story. As I said, it seems calm and peaceful. Our family, watching good family programming together. A show I don't mind Wiggle Man watching. I guess he had a problem with it, though, so he did what you do when you have one of those problems:

He called 9-1-1.

Seriously. He'd been playing with our cordless phone when suddenly we heard a man's voice on the speakerphone. Hubba Hubba grabbed the phone, realised it was a 9-1-1 operator, and explained the situation.

Our story doesn't end there.

Twenty minutes later, 2 state troopers pulled in. With a spotlight attached to one of the cop cars. One officer came to the front door, one came to the side door. I was so nervous, I couldn't find the light switch for the porch light. Yeah. They're required to check out all 9-1-1 calls these days. Even accidental ones made by toddlers. They were very kind about it, thankfully. Maybe they have toddlers of their own at home.

Needless to say, Wiggle Man is banned from the phone until he's 46.

My brother-in-law, a former 9-1-1 Chief himself, found the whole thing very amusing.

*********************

On a completely different topic, I wanted to address some of the issues that have come up about Twilight.

The whole reason I began reading the book was to understand the hype, and be able to talk intelligently about it. (Sort of the same reasons I read books like The DaVinci Code.) I wasn't necessarily planning to end up liking it. Which I do, actually.

The vampire thing really doesn't bother me from a Christian perspective. I mean, we're dealing with mythical creatures. No one has a problem with the Narnia books (also favourites of mine) simply because they have pretend creatures in them. But C.S. Lewis, for the most part, maintains the traditional line between "good mythical guys" and "bad mythical guys/witches/evil guardians". Just because in this case the "good guys" are mythical creatures we typically cast as "bad guys" doesn't mean we're glorifying evil. In fact, I think it has a lot to say about judging people/vampires/werewolves/unicorns/other pretend things for who they are and what they do, rather than what category of fairy tale character they fit into.

Other people have problems with the sensuality of the book. And yeah, there are scenes in the book that I wouldn't want my daughter to read. (Not that I have a daughter, but you get the point.) I do, however, have a young son, and as I alluded to in the beginning of this post, there are things in our culture I'm not comfortable with him coming in contact with. Which is why, as a parent, I make decisions about what he sees on tv, what movies he watches, and what books I read to him.

I think this is an issue of age appropriateness. The people I have recommended the book to are all grown adults, married themselves, who are unlikely to be affected by the kissing scenes. (Which, in reality, are rather tame compared to some of what's out there in the mainstream media--but that's another soap box.)

I guess my point is this: Let's be aware, as parents and role models, of what we allow the children in our influence to read, watch, and listen to. Just because something is targeted at 14-year-old girls, doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate for your 14-year-old daughter to read. Let's make our own parenting decisions, instead of letting the media do it for us. Let's remember that there are things that are appropriate for adults that are not appropriate for teenagers.

And let's look for the good lessons in books like this. Lessons like abstinence. (Yes, it's because of his vampirish strength, but also because Edward values marriage. No one talks about that part.) Lessons about the nature of good and evil, and redemption. Commitment. Sacrifice.

What are your thoughts about these books? I've said my piece--what's yours?