Outside Readings- The Shack, Rawley

The Shack is a book written by William Paul Young. It is about a man, Makenzie, who used to have a relationship with the Lord, but then his daughter is kidnapped and killed and he loses all faith. Mack loses all hope in the Lord and ignores his faith completely, even though his wife and family still believe; the call God Papa. Mack cannot move on from his daughter's death and the Great Saddness. One day, Mack slips and hits his head on some ice and gets a note from Papa that says, "meet me in the shack"; the Shack was where they found Mack's daughter, Missy's, bloody dress and knew she was killed. Mack was never able to find Missy's body and even though the note was signed PAPA, he thinks it might have been from the killer. He packs up and goes to the Shack. When he gets there, he finds that the note really was from Papa and not only was Papa there (in the form of a big, friendly, black woman) but so is Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The rest of the book is all about the Three helping Mack overcome the Great Saddness and show him how much They love him. The Three all have different ways to communicating with Mack and teach him different things. This book represents a different way of thinking and relating to the Trinity. It is so beautiful the way that Young illustrates how much They love Mack and work so hard to show it. It personalizes the idea of Grace and Forgiveness and most of all Love.