The Shack by William P. Young

“Emotions are the colors of the soul: they are spectacular and incredible. When you don’t feel, the world becomes dull and colorless.

Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible. You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness that they draw out of you. And the more you know another, the richer the colors of that relationship.”

William P. Young
The Shack

The quotes above are from the book The Shack by William P. Young which you can find on my Shelfari bookshelf to the right. A friend of mine suggested I read this book almost 2 yrs ago after the fire. I kept it in the back of my mind as a "must read one day" book. Recently, my friend Jessica loned me a well-worn copy that she picked up from a garage sale. Something about reading a paperback that has already been broken in seems to make it even more enjoyable.

Most people say when they started reading The Shack that it was one of those books that they couldn't put down, but I didn't find it to be that way at all. I took my time reading it and soaked it in. When the book first came out it was much debated in Christian circles because God the father is depicted as a black woman. You have to keep in mind that the book is fiction but I found nothing in it to be contrary to scripture. The main character in the book finds that he really doesn't know God as well as he thought he did.

I found the book to be very timely for me and it made quite a significant impact. I think the most memorable part of me was the idea of putting ourselves in place of God as judge when we harbor bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts. While reading this book I came to the conclusion that there were some old hurts and people that I needed to release from "judgement". It's interesting how releasing your hold on someone else can be so freeing personally. Reading this book at this particular time is my life is just another example of how God works in our lives in his own timing.