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Seeing God in a New Light

The Shack by William P. Young, Windblown Media, 2007

A dear friend asked me months ago if I had read The Shack and I admitted I hadn’t. I resisted it because the reviews made me assume it was heavy on Christian dogma. I’m more of a Richard Bach aficionado (Jonathan Livingston Seagull and his other works): I want the mysterious with a good story to couch the spiritual message. The Shack stayed on the best-seller list for so many months (ten weeks on USA Today’s top 10) that I decided to put my name on the waiting list at the local library. It finally became available, long after I’d forgotten that I’d reserved it. I am glad I did.

The book actually made me cry in certain parts, especially when God assures Mack of his love, no matter what. That is a lesson we all seem to have a hard time believing, I think. I try to be a good person, but I can be petty, gossipy and bitchy when I backslide. In the story, God is a black woman, Jesus is a hawk-beak-nosed Middle- Eastern man, and the Holy Spirit is an airy-fairy, Asian character, Sayaru, who flits in and out of view in more ways than one.

The cast of characters alone would probably make it unreadable for many people: in fact, it is the reason fundamentalists abhor the book. I loved it. It reminded me of the 60’s joke: “God is coming back. Next time she’s a black woman, and boy, is she pissed!”

The fundamentalists also argue that the novel doesn’t follow scripture. (Yes, my stress is on the word novel, which some people don’t seem to realize means FICTION.) I believe that a good “god read" transmits the lesson and story without hammering a “my way is the only way” philosophy. That may be the crux of the irritation of the fundamentalists— William Young has the audacity to have Jesus say that people who live free and love without agenda—even the rascals, Muslims, Palestinians, Democrats (you get the idea), are all sons of Papa (God)! You don’t have to be a Christian for unity with the source.

Besides challenging the Christian concept of God as a patriarchal white male with a beard, The Shack negates the idea that God inflicts punishment upon us for our human frailty and errors. GOD IS LOVE. Period. By making the Trinity human, the author stresses that we need to stop classifying the Trinity into our perceptions!

“The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn’t much, and then call that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I’m not merely the best version of you that you can think of. I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think.” (P.97)

In our current trying times, it is refreshing to have an author challenge the reader to compassion. I have had a great deal of anger over the selfishness of Wall Street and our national banks, as well as the previous administration for allowing such greed to go unchecked. No, perhaps I should say for encouraging such monumental greed, and rewarding it. When I read the words that follow, it made me think of those who have betrayed America’s trust:

(Many people) “end up locking themselves into a very small place with a monster that will ultimately betray them, that will not fill or deliver what they thought it would. Imprisoned with such a terror, they once again have the opportunity to return to me. The very treasure they trusted in will become their undoing.”

Mack, the human in this passion play with God replies,

“But if I understand what you’re saying, the consequences of our selfishness are part of the process that brings us to the end of our delusions, and helps us find you. Is that why you don’t stop every evil?” And Papa-God answers, “This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil. Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say. Now it touches everyone that I love, those who follow me and those who don’t. If I take away all the consequences of people’s choices, I destroy the possibility of love. Love that is force is no love at all.” (P. 192-3)

I read the above passage as a reminder to know that God’s love is a choice we can accept (and make our life easier and happier) or refuse (and struggle with our self-created demons). But, our acceptance or denial will not stop her from loving us. Forgiveness is a difficult lesson, but without it there can be no love.

When religion is used as a means to control us, not to teach us how to live and grow or help us find the God within, it becomes an anathema to God’s love. In those circumstances, it becomes another form of greed:

“I’m not too big on religion,” Jesus said…”and not very fond of politics or economics either….They are the man-created trinity of terrors that ravages the earth and deceives those I care about. What mental turmoil and anxiety does any human face that is not related to one of those three?...”Put simply, these terrors are tools that many use to prop up their illusions of security and control. People are afraid of uncertainty, afraid of the future. These institutions, these structures and ideologies, are all a vain effort to create some sense of certainty and security where there isn’t any. It’s all false! Systems cannot provide you security, only I can.” P181.

That brings home what I love about Unity—it is a light to show us the path to God. It does not say Christianity is the only way, nor give credence to God’s wrath, nor to damnation. GOD IS LOVE, and she is in each and every one of us to manifest. When we are filled with fear, (and the economy is one of the most fear-inducing realities for most of us, at this point in time) we close our channel to the light. Bringing our focus back to God’s love brings us back to the security and knowledge that “this too will pass.” (Thank you Lyte, for the reminder of the last quote in a recent email!)

I breathe in the beauty that surrounds me. I give thanks for all that I have. I try to remember when people are rude or driving like insane robots that they may be going through an incredibly hard time. I send them light and love in my thoughts, and offer a smile and kind word if I can. I send my prayers to those who are hurting and scared, and I try to envision a better world: A world filled with humans who care for one another and no longer need material goods to give them a sense of worth; a world where people are more important than things; a world where charity and compassion are the measure of a life well-lived; a word where the beauty of earth is reflected in all of our eyes. Or, as Papa says:

“Honey, let me tell you one of the reasons that it makes no sense to you. It’s because you have such a small view of what it means to be human. You and this Creation are incredible, whether you understand that or not. You are wonderful beyond imagination. Just because you make horrendous and destructive choices does not mean you deserve less respect for what you inherently are—the pinnacle of my Creation and the center of my affection”…”don’t forget that in the midst of all your pain and heartache, you are surrounded by beauty, the wonder of Creation, art, your music and culture, the sounds of laughter and love, of whispered hopes and celebrations, of new life and transformation, of reconciliation and forgiveness.” P.192

The Shack helped me realize that forgiveness is the channel that opens our awareness to the light of God’s love. It was a teaching I needed to learn.

There are many other lessons and concise wisdom in its pages. In this discussion I used approximately a third of the ideas from the thirty-two pages of the book that I copied. I guess that means I could write two more articles from the rest. Or, it probably means I missed other tidbits. Okay, it means I need to buy the book! And, hey, William Young is self-published, so by buying it, I help the messenger, not a mega-corporate publishing entity. We both win. 

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