A friend of mine in high school vowed to never watch Forrest Gump. It didn't matter how much time we spent convincing him it was worth watching because that wasn't the point. He felt that the hype had elevated the movie to a height that it would surely not be able to reach upon his viewing.
I battled this same expectation as I read The Shack. Although the hype hadn't been as big as a feature-length movie with a powerful studio behind it, Christians have an uncanny way of rooting for "their own team" in a sense and as a result I felt like I read The Shack with a much more critical eye.
Plainly said, I deeply enjoyed some parts of the book while other sections left me feeling a bit cheeseball and wishing that Christian allegory and metaphors could be a bit more.
#1: My all-time favorite theme of the book was redemption found through relationships. My favorite quite comes from the Foreward, "I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside." I exhaled deeply and re-read this sentence about four times before continuing. I just wanted to camp out right here. If there were no more words written in the book, I would have been satisfied. But, gracefully there was more.
#2: The theme of redemption through relationships continued to weave itself beautifully throughout the book. I never thought the author claimed to be a theologian and so I never questioned any of the concepts he introduced. What the author, Young, did do was paint a picture of relationship between the trinity and Mack that was beautiful, authentic, and heart-lifting. When the main character, Mack, struggled to connect with a God in whom he could trust he looked to Jesus and built a solid, loving, caring relationship with a man he found so easy to love.
Thank you for emphasizing relationship and denouncing religion. That almost made me laugh out loud picturing Jesus talk about his dislike for religion.
Here is what I thought was a little cheeseball:
#1: Mack's over-eagerness to engage in such a "spiritual awakening". For a man stuck in a deep depression, he seemed a bit to easy to convince that God was inviting him on a journey to the shack. Really, is it that easy? The next weekend? I wanted to see a bit more inner fight and maybe some spiritual battle happening just to get him there.
#2: Whoa! Slow down Mack! What happened to your anger? your sadness, your questions? For me being in the presence of the Holy Spirit doesn't make my emotions any less raw. What happened to your passion? I wanted more rage, more anger, more throwing of the fist up at Papa. He just seemed to melt into submission around the crew and let them do all the talking. And, when I say all the talking, I really mean ALL the talking. I definitely get it that the mystery of God is just that, but why does Mack need to look like an idiot replying in one word phrases and insisting that his brain was turning to mush while the crew continued to simplify by using metaphors and analogies that made me feel like I was reading a devotion by John Eldredge? (not bad by any means, but not original).
I believe The Shack can and is being used to touch the hearts of many. I am passing it on to my dad the next time I see him and I hope he'll pass it on. The message of hope and that God is especially fond of us is one that I will never tire of hearing or praying that people can accept. I've known too many people who don't believe that they are loved by God and their relationship or lack thereof with God affects all the relationships around them. For them and for all of us the message of being loved by God rings loud and true in this book.
P.S. In his acknowledgements he cites Matt Wertz as one of his many musical inspirations, but then adds after Matt's name in parentheses "you are something special". This dude has GREAT taste! :)
5 comments:
This was one of the gems: "I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside."
I hope I didn't give you too high of hopes and over-hype it too much... for some reason, the blatantly cheesball parts really didn't bother me so much in this book, and they usually do.
And your comment about Papa doing all the talking... I totally agree, I would have loved to see Mack let out his deep anger and confusion a little more, but I have this strange feeling that even though God really does honor our emotions, whatever they may be, when we actually get to see God face to face, we won't mind if God does all the talking :-)
Anyway, nice review.
I definitely love you for reasons too numerous to count. The most recent is the fact that you read the acknowledgments of the book and saw the Matt Wertz nod that I DEFINITELY missed. So thank you, as usual, for adding to my life, Miss Dana Ward!
Good morning to you Miss Ward! This is the first time I have come across your blog, but must say that I have enjoyed it. I suspected that I would, thus me reading and commenting. I have not read the book, but have heard about it over and over. I found your review intriguing and very much you. The thing that jumped out at me in your review was that the author does not claim to be a theologian. I am a firm believer that everyone is a theologian and does theology whether they admit, acknowledge, or accept it. I think this is why churches need to be emphasizing the importance of doing good theology, and not trying to hide from the boogie monster under the proverbial covers. Again, I have not read the book, but I know what you are saying about the downplaying of raw emotion in the face of the Lord. Look at Abraham, Moses, Job, etc. and their interaction with God. I too become frustrated at the Churches over suppression of real emotions. I have to wonder though, how will we really respond when we are in the presence of the Lord?
I have to say it has been a bummer not seeing you around campus this summer. Nikki and I want to have you up again. Are you taking a September school class? What is your fall schedule look like?
Stew,
You didn't over-hype it at all. And I agree, I'm pretty sure I will be speechless before God...which will be quite a miracle. :)
Mikaela,
I love you too...and Matt Wertz...um...awkward.
Eric,
I'm so glad you stumbled upon my humble little blog and saying that it is so me is probably the best compliment ever. I will definitely have to go spend some more time on your blog. The theologian quote was more of a response to people slamming his theology, which wasn't ever his aim. He wanted to write a story for his children. As a creative person, he was using allegory to tell a story and not neccesarily worry about being theologically accurate, but people have attacked his accuracy and called Young heretical, which is not at all called for. You should read it, but through the lens of story and not theology. You do make an interesting point though about ensuring that we do good theology and not just throw anything out there.
I do wish we all could have gotten together too. I want some more of your coffee :) I'm not in school until the end of Sept., but can always take a trip up if the coffee's brewing...:)
I like your cheeseball section.
You are right, Mack was too eager.
Although do you think that Mack encountering the Holy Spirit for the first time (in a while) really left a mark on him, which may have caused him to change so quickly?
I am assuming Mack did not have the youth ministry summer camp high---ever.
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