I am having a hard time articulating my thoughts about "The Shack." I'm a walkaway from what I now understand was a somewhat abusive, conservative/fundamentalist church and have only recently begun to re-explore Christian theology. Having found a progressive church was a great start on the road.My parents, who belong to a far more conservative church than I, both read and recommend "The Shack" to me and then sent it on as part of my Christmas package. I just finished it last night, and have now read several reviews, both positive and negative.Young creates a fictional world in which a very troubled man finds solace in the face of tragedy. As per the requests in the book's "Missy Project" notes, I will not give away significant spoilers. I will say that the fictional protagonist, Mack, finds solace after the tragic murder of his daughter and learns a great many things about himself in the process.Here's what I have to say about the whole "it's not biblical/it's 'unchristian' to read" argument: if you can't wrap your head around the fact that not everyone sees "god" the same way that you do, then I believe that you have a problem. William Young presents "god" as a kindly and comforting personage, not some kind of "angry grandpa in the sky." I think that most people would find Young's concept far more comforting and inviting than the latter. I know that I did. If you want to invite more people back to church, perhaps it is time to do so in a loving fashion instead of pointing fingers and sitting in judgment of people who dare to be different from you.After all, that's what Rabbi Yeshua ben Joseph taught.
