Today Nat and I went to hear William "Paul" Young, author of The Shack, speak at a local church. Although much theological controversy looms over this story, both Nat and I were deeply impacted by the book. The same was true for the hour of storytelling we were blessed by today. Here are a few snippets...
1. Sarayu, the name for the Holy Spirit in the book, is one of the Hindi words for wind, in particular, it is used to convey "a common wind that catches you by surprise."
2. Both Mack and Missy, two of the main characters, are based on Paul's life. Mack represents a lot of the pain that he has experienced as an adult and Missy represents something in him that was murdered as a child. He went into much more personal and intimate detail on this, but I'll save that for a conversation.
3. Memorable quotes from Paul this morning:
-"I have finally grasp that I can never heal myself."
-"I've realized that I had many subtle addictions... Now, I have no secrets and no addictions...so Satan has little to work with."
4. My favorite quote from the book: Papa says,"I'm especially fond of you." Oh, if I could only truly believe that, how different would my daily strivings be.
Paul's sincerity and evident brokenness scared me. I want to be a man like that, so confident in my identity in Christ, but the pain that he has experienced to bring him to that place is not the life I dream about. I wonder if true intimacy with Christ can be experienced apart from suffering? Actually, I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question.
5 comments:
Drew and Nat,
Joe and I are leading a "Shack" discussion group in our home. We both loved the book!
Regarding your question...Can we really experience intimacy with Christ without suffering? From what I've been through, my answer would be "NO." BUT God can do whatever He wants to bring us into intimacy.
Last night in our group we were discussing "Do we really believe God is good?" This truly is the bottom line. Joe Verga responded, "I think He's good. I just don't how bad his best for me is going to get." We all laughed. Isn't that the conflict within our hearts?
Be encouraged...after feeling completely stripped...Feeling God's love and His presence on a deep core level is worth the suffering!
correction:
the quote from Joe Verga is "I think He's good. I just don't know how bad his best for me is going to get."....
Hey Drew and Nat,
I am in that discussion group Beth Lineberry is talking about in her comment. Your (Drew's) mom just told me about your blog. It is so amazing how this book is just catching fire. Thanks for sharing your impressions of the time with the author!
Debbie Barr
Dolla Bill Hill, Heidi told me that I should comment b/c I read the book and it rocked my world as well...I'm not going to say anything bout the book, but I will say that I love you guys and miss my brotha from anotha mother. I truly miss you bro and I just wanted you to know just how much I love ya!!!
Drew,
some girls in my bible study recommended reading The Shack. I was hesitant at first but loved everything about it! I LOVED reading your blog today.
I just sent your blog to my entire bible study. You might have a bigger fan base now..hope thats okay!
Becky Gibbs
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