The Shack

I started reading The Shack this summer, but got too involved in other books and didn't finish. I recommended it for my book group and it was the topic of discussion on Monday. If you are not at all familiar with the book, it is the story of Mack who gets invited to the shack where his daughter was killed for a conversation with the trinity. God is a large black woman, Jesus is a not so attractive middle eastern man and the Holy Ghost is an Asian woman who is described to be almost fairly like. Before you pre-judge, I highly recommend you give it a chance. There are several points that don't jive with my beliefs, but there are also a lot of great examples and analogies that got me thinking. The primary focus is God's love, something that I would definitely like to understand better.
The members of my book group have extremely varied backgrounds and opinions when it comes to God and religion so I was excited for the discussion. In fact, that is part of why I suggested the book. The group did not disappoint. We had a lively, respectful discussion and I really learned a lot about the beliefs and faith processes of others.
In the book, God and Mack spend a lot of time talking about the age old question of why bad things happen to good people. God tells him "If you knew I was good and that everything - the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives - is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not understand what I am doing, you would trust me."
One of my favorite parts of the book deals with forgiveness, and why it is so important that we forgive those who have wronged us. He says that forgiveness is "to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly". The entire section is very powerful.
The book isn't perfect, but I would definitely recommend it as one worth reading. A- (It got bumped from a B+ because of the gread discussion and thoughts that it provoked.)