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Author: Robert Francis
Every Monday night, I gather with some friends for dinner. This weekly ritual began a couple of years ago at the suggestion of a friend who was interested in sharing food, fellowship, and some sort of spiritual practice. As a collection of transient, mostly single 20- and 30-somethings, many of the faces in our group have changed since the first gathering, but we’ve never lacked a critical mass committed to getting together. Recently, we decided to add a book discussion to our weekly routine. Our first book has been The Shack by William Paul Young.
Have you heard of The Shack? Written by an Oregon salesman and self-published by two former pastors with a $300 marketing budget, The Shack has gone from pet project to New York Times Bestseller. It now boasts over 5 million copies in print, at least according to the front cover of my copy. That doesn’t seem hard to believe, given the fact that I got my copy courtesy of a couple earnest members of a local community church, who were handing them out for free by the stack at our local Metro stop. Like The DaVinci Code, The Shack seems to be part book and part cultural phenomenon. Even though some of us in the group had some misgivings about reading something so “popular” and not-so-veiled in its proselytizing posture, given the book’s popularity, we thought we may as well see for ourselves what all the hype was about.
The Shack tells the story of Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips, a married father of four, who endures an unspeakable tragedy when his youngest daughter is abducted and apparently brutally murdered. After four years of grief, Mack finds himself invited back to the scene of the tragedy, apparently by God. What ensues – and what comprises most of the book – is Mack’s encounter with God, who takes on forms one might not expect. Not surprisingly, this encounter centers upon Mack’s trauma and the age-old question of the problem of evil. As the book jacket asks, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?”
You’ll have to read The Shack to best judge for yourself the author’s take on this question. However, since the book’s self-description makes no secret of its intentions, it isn’t playing spoiler to tell you that the author thinks that the existence of God – and even an infinitely loving, good God – isn’t incompatible with the evil we see around us (or in ourselves). In fact, it might be the one thing that helps make sense of all this pain. Mack, though resistant, ultimately finds God’s presence at the center of the most painful loss in his life.
The problem of pain may seem like heavy dinnertime conversation (and maybe we’ll choose lighter fare for our next book), but it isn’t as foreign for most of us as one might think. Despite the somewhat younger age of our group, we bear our share of scars. One of us is a cancer survivor; a couple of us have already lost parents; we have seen divorces, suicide attempts, and other traumas among those we love; and we all have any number of our own hidden hurts, insecurities and uncertainties.
You’ll get wildly different answers among our group as to whether or not The Shack’s answers to the problem of pain are compelling. But maybe more important than whether or not we all agree is the fact that we get together to talk about such things, including sharing some of those hurts and pains. While we all have much for which to be thankful, pain and trauma will also continue to also be part of our lives – it’s an unavoidable part of the human condition. But it’s nice to know that every Monday I’ll be cracking open some wine, sitting around a dinner table, and sharing this journey with friends.
image by Professor Bop (rights)
October 27th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Thanks for this thoughtful piece, Bob. I haven’t read The Shack, but I think you’ve sold me on giving it a whirl (despite the ambivalences you hint at that I share). As for your Monday night group (of which I’m a former member), I cannot recommend enough making space in one’s life for such a meeting of souls and minds. The fellowship, laughter, and support of the group would have been more than enough reason to make it a priority in my life. But I was also blessed by the gift of a new vocabulary this group helped me to develop to think and talk about my spiritual growth, needs and desires. Over a few hours on Monday nights, a group of fellow travelers helped me evolve in how I listen and how I pray. God speaks to us through those we allow to sit near us in our lives. Is there anything more worthy of a devoted space in our busy busy lives?
October 28th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Thank you for this. the shack impressed me the most when the author chose to leave certain questions unexplained. choosing to explore those questions in community matters a great deal.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
So, I’m a part of amazingly welcome group. Still haven’t finished the book, but the conversation certainly is open and encouraging! Not only have a seen a divorce, I’ve lived through one of my own. Great to read about what young adults in DC are up to!