I Finally Read "The Shack".....

While on vacation this week, I finally read “The Shack”. I’m not typically one to follow the herd on things like this, but since so much controversy exploded on this so-called literary heresy, curiosity took over (that and a few people claimed the book changed their lives) so out of mere wonder, I read it.

Unlike my Shack-evangelist friends, this book did not change my life. Sorry friends, don’t be mad – I just was expecting to be made to cry my eyes out and didn’t. Guess I’m either 1) incredibly unsympathetic and cold hearted or 2) the Florida sun dried up my tear ducts. Neither of which are true. Deep down I really hoped it would, I mean – why not, last time I read a book that really changed me was a few years ago when I read “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. I thought of sin and humanity and the nasty matrix within, quite differently. I think reading Dorian Gray started me thinking about homosexuality differently. That was a book that made me think. And still does. So naturally I was hoping the same here.

Yes, the story was great, I was thoroughly entertained. In a nutshell a guy has a huge tragedy happen to him which causes spiritual doubt, anger etc. God leaves him a note to come back to the place (the shack) where this tragedy hit the tipping point and spend the weekend. He goes, and meets God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They were all in human form and together a fantastic story of redemption was woven. I was pretty engrossed; I flew through the 245ish pages pretty much within a day and a half. Unfortunately, Bill Young is no Pulitzer-prize winning author, and I sometimes lost the ‘wow’ of the moment to the occasional cheesy line or christianeeze slogan arbitrarily thrown in. Many times and definitely at the end I thought “Dang, if CS Lewis or Tolkien would have written this same storyline – WOW, this could be the next great classic!” But they didn’t. So it’s not.

I can see this as something of great encouragement to someone going through a great loss. Mack, the main character, is someone anyone could identify with. He’s a proud dad, works hard, has a good buddy Willie who would do anything for him, lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, has a wonderful wife – yay, all the makings of your standard modern-day mythical utopia. I would recommend this to anyone as a “good ole beach read”, but not much else. I am not sure how this fictional book has end up on the church’s “Top Ten Most Wanted Heresy and Let’s Burn em at the Stake” list, and others aren’t. Maybe it’s because God was portrayed as a black woman. I was envisioning the Oracle from the Matrix the whole time and Mack was Neo, but a much smarter Neo. If you’re one of those people who are appalled that I read The Shack to begin with, please get over yourself and lighten up. I’ve read much worse. You probably should be more concerned with the contents of my iPod then this fictional redemption story.

Maybe I’m a jerk, but the Bible is a pretty great narrative about God, too. If a fictional work takes the place of the Bible – yikes, now we’re in for some heresy. Until then, enjoy it for what it is.

Now I’m reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin. So far it ticks me off.