Reflections on the book "The Shack"

I recently finished reading the fiction book "The Shack".  From my perspective it was a book about a man whose daughter was murdered and his journey back from that place of despair and questioning God to psychological and spiritual healing and a right relationship with God and how that affected the other relationships in his life toward the end.  Perhaps you've read it too?

This is what specifically struck me about the book: the way the author described and personified the Trinity. Now, we are human beings so no author will ever be able to do justice to that topic, but the author tried.  It made me think about my perceptions of the Holy Trinity and what did I learn about the Trinity from "The Shack"?

I was touched by the interplay between the Father, Son, and Spirit in this book. The author humanized the Trinity in a way that was not disrespectful at all. It was a little whimsical at times, but I think the author had some good points to make.  I liked how he demonstrated a very intimate and loving relationship between the Three Persons of the Trinity. I liked the sense of humor displayed and how the Trinity is very interested in each one of us.

I didn't like the digs on ritual and the comment that Jesus did not make a religion. To me that clearly stated that the author was not Catholic or very fond of the Church when he wrote that. However, I could be mistaken.  Jesus did indeed give Peter the keys to the Kingdom and told him that upon him, Peter, "this rock" he would build His "Church".  But those were minor annoyances compared to the rest of the book, which I found interesting.

I typically only read non-fiction. I had some co-workers hound me to read this book for over a year before I relented. After all, I'd rather read something with more truth and meat to it than a fiction book. But I must say I was pleasantly surprised over all with "The Shack".  Congrats to the author for tackling a tough subject - trying to explain the Holy Trinity.

There is one line in the book that I remember and I hope I get it right when I quote it here. It said "God's love is bigger than your stupidity." or something like that. I like that because there are some days when I am a very stupid person and I'm grateful that God still loves me despite my flaws and sinfulness.

Thank you for listening. God bless your day.