Letting Go

ü “You have taken note of my journey through life, caught each of my tears in Your bottle…God are they not also blots on Your book?” Psalm 56:8 (VOICE) 

ü “Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person's throat.” (Quote from The Shack by William P. Young)[i] 

 ü “But God proves His love for us in that while we still  were sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NRSVCE)

The 2007 Christian novel, The Shack, was a self-published sensation by Canadian author, William P. Young (a former office manager and hotel night clerk). Young originally wrote The Shack as a Christmas gift for his six children (with no apparent intention of ever publishing it).

After allowing several friends read The Shack; he was urged to publish it for the general public. Its official United States movie release is Tuesday, March 7, 2017. According to Young, the title of this book is a symbol “for the dwelling place one builds out of their own pain. People can often get damaged, (stuck, and hurt) where all the shame is centered at.”

After his young daughter Missy is murdered during a family camping trip in the American Northwest; Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington) spirals into a bottomless depression causing him to question his innermost beliefs. Facing a crisis of faith, he receives a mysterious letter urging him to the shack where the crime occurred, deep in the Oregon wilderness.

Despite his doubts, Mack goes there and encounters three mysterious holy strangers led by an African American woman named “Papa” (Octavia Spencer). Through this meeting, Mack finds important truths that will transform his understanding of his tragedy (and change his life forever).[ii]

“Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible.

You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness that they draw out of you. And the more you know another, the richer the colors of that relationship.” (Quote from The Shack by William P. Young)[iii]

 

 

 

Book and author

 

 

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[i] Various articles in Wikepedia were used in compiling the information for this post.

 

[ii] The first time I tried to listen to the seven audio discs (8.5 hours) of The Shack audio book (Narrator Roger Mueller) around March 2009; I didn’t finish it because the story confused me as I listened to it at work. My wife read it months later when I was at Ohio State University hospital  for cancer chemotherapy. I listened to it a second time somewhere between 2010 or 2011.

 

This time I got it, and also attended a book group in a nearby church. The church I attend (CenterPoint Church Gahanna) is planning on renting out a theater for our congregation to see it. There may be a third time listening to this book in my car before seeing the movie. Here are two great book-to-movie adaptation quotes.

 

ü “Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They both are fruit, but taste completely different.” (Stephen King)

ü The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader. That’s why we go to movies and say, “Oh, the book is better.”  (Paulo Coelho)

 

[iii] Starting Wednesday, February 8, 2017, I will put out two posts (morning and evening). After that I will put these ENCOURAGE ME posts out in the evening before retiring to bed (around 10:30pm) so I can conserve time in the morning to prepare for work. Enjoy your “Robert time” earlier now. This was the wife’s idea, which is a good one to adopt.