Low Price The Shack

I recently saw William Young on the TV while travelling in the US and found him to be a compelling storyteller. He was recounting an incident in his mother's life, when as a student nurse she saved the life of an extremely premature baby. I have to say I was moved to tears, so passing though the airport yesterday I bought The Shack and read it on the plane to Calgary. I finished it this morning.

I am a practising (though questioning) Christian who has been through a powerful "born again" experience and worked full time for evangelical organsiations. I also lost a child ten years ago in tragic circumstances. Many of the questions Mack attempts to ask are ones I am still grappling with (who isn't?) but the "answers" that he receives in the book from the alleged Trinity are so woolly, evasive and patronising that I kept gasping in amazement.

Occasionally there were beams of light that broke through the awfulness, but these could have been summed up in a very small pamphlet - and even though I've only just put the book down I've already forgotten what they were. I was also mystified by the charcter of Mack. Given the opportunity to ask the creator of the universe anything he liked why didn't he immediately ask the question that must have been burning in his mind every moment of every day: WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DAUGHTER AND WHERE IS HER BODY?

We do eventually get around to this, though he never actually asks the question, even when he sees Jesus building something which looks suspiciously like a coffin. Hallo!!

There could have followed many interesting questions: is the Bible really true? If so how does God explain some of the weirder things he said and did in the Old Testament? What is the meaning of life? Could he explain the origins of the universe? Are there other universes? Are there other intelligent life forms out there and if so, are they flawed or perfect? Are people who don't come to Christ in this world doomed to spend eternity in anguish? And so on... Could have been a pretty amazing couple of days.

As it is we just get a fuzzy, inconclusive and rather unprofessional weekend counselling session - no conusellor I know would interrupt their client as much as the Trinity do here. And they do so much TALKING!

How can anyone be satisfied with any of this stuff? In fact the book has added another burning question to my list of "things I would like to know from God if he(or she)ever invited me for a weekend in the country": How could he/she allow someone who obviously seeks for divine guidance to write such a dreadful book?

But then maybe it is helpful to see how far we still are from a satsifactory and well-reasoned image of God. If we're not satisfied with Papa's answers in The Shack, perhaps we should keep pestering her. Or him.



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