A friend, a devoted Christian and dentist based in North Shore City, recommended I read a book titled “The Shack” by William P Young.
The book begins with an explanation of the childhood of the main character, McKenzie, nicknamed ‘Mack’.
My reading took about two weeks, leaving me with the impression the content is quite philosophical because of the great amount of discussion between Mack and the Holy Trinity during a weekend spent in the shack. The discussion is centred on the tragedy which Mack had experienced.
Composed of 18 chapters, the book begins with a prologue of Mack’s childhood wherein the author tells of Mack’s father, abusive when drunk, always seeking forgiveness when sober. These details help me make sense of following episodes.
The core of the story is Missy, Mack’s youngest daughter aged 6 who was abducted from the camp yard where Mack was picnicking with his three children. Only Missy’s red clothes were found on the table by the fireplace of an abandoned shack in the bush. Overwhelmed by his tragic loss, Mack began to question the truth of God’s love.
One day, two years after the tragedy, Mack received a note left in his letter box inviting him to re-visit the shack in which Missy’s clothes were found. It astonished him to see the note was signed “Papa”, in the way his wife Nan refers to God.
Curiosity, anger and guilt, buried deep in his mind frequently haunting him, made him determined to revisit the place to face and challenge the negativities he had been embracing.
One Friday afternoon, unknown to his wife and children, he set off. On entering the bush near his destination, the surrounding atmosphere became so peaceful, refreshing and solemn as he sighted the shack in the distance. It was there he encountered the Holy Trinity - God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The following chapters of the book contain and explain the questions, answers and hot debate which ensue between Mack and God. The main point of the questions being that if God loves his creation, why are there tragedies and sufferings in the world.
I feel the author, William Young must be a very knowledgeable theologian or is a senior Christianity scholar as the arguments he weaves in the story are very deep and incomprehensible to me. Although difficult for me to read, I completed the book in order to improve my reading capacity.
After the two-day stay in the shack with God, Mack felt an inner transformation leaving him with a feeling of light and peace replacing the anger and guilt. He felt it was time to go home and back to reality.
At this point of the story, the author makes a technical twist to involve Mack in a massive traffic accident on his way home. Mack loses consciousness, falls into a coma and on awakening asked his wife what happened. It was then he knew he had been in hospital during the whole weekend whereas for him, he had been in the shack with God.
The book begins with an explanation of the childhood of the main character, McKenzie, nicknamed ‘Mack’.
My reading took about two weeks, leaving me with the impression the content is quite philosophical because of the great amount of discussion between Mack and the Holy Trinity during a weekend spent in the shack. The discussion is centred on the tragedy which Mack had experienced.
Composed of 18 chapters, the book begins with a prologue of Mack’s childhood wherein the author tells of Mack’s father, abusive when drunk, always seeking forgiveness when sober. These details help me make sense of following episodes.
The core of the story is Missy, Mack’s youngest daughter aged 6 who was abducted from the camp yard where Mack was picnicking with his three children. Only Missy’s red clothes were found on the table by the fireplace of an abandoned shack in the bush. Overwhelmed by his tragic loss, Mack began to question the truth of God’s love.
One day, two years after the tragedy, Mack received a note left in his letter box inviting him to re-visit the shack in which Missy’s clothes were found. It astonished him to see the note was signed “Papa”, in the way his wife Nan refers to God.
Curiosity, anger and guilt, buried deep in his mind frequently haunting him, made him determined to revisit the place to face and challenge the negativities he had been embracing.
One Friday afternoon, unknown to his wife and children, he set off. On entering the bush near his destination, the surrounding atmosphere became so peaceful, refreshing and solemn as he sighted the shack in the distance. It was there he encountered the Holy Trinity - God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The following chapters of the book contain and explain the questions, answers and hot debate which ensue between Mack and God. The main point of the questions being that if God loves his creation, why are there tragedies and sufferings in the world.
I feel the author, William Young must be a very knowledgeable theologian or is a senior Christianity scholar as the arguments he weaves in the story are very deep and incomprehensible to me. Although difficult for me to read, I completed the book in order to improve my reading capacity.
After the two-day stay in the shack with God, Mack felt an inner transformation leaving him with a feeling of light and peace replacing the anger and guilt. He felt it was time to go home and back to reality.
At this point of the story, the author makes a technical twist to involve Mack in a massive traffic accident on his way home. Mack loses consciousness, falls into a coma and on awakening asked his wife what happened. It was then he knew he had been in hospital during the whole weekend whereas for him, he had been in the shack with God.
(Great thanks go to my English mentor Neville who corrected the grammar of the original post for me.)
No comments:
Post a Comment