The Shack

Thanks for the cards and calls on my birthday(!) With the money Marbella sent, which I keep trying to no avail to get her NOT to, I purchased a book that she and gerbeans have been adamant I should read. I sat down and read it today, and I'm glad I did.

It struck a lot of chords. I've never been particularly impressed with religions or their institutions. Even the "scriptures" of such seems to have captured more about man's interpretation of "law" rather than "spirit" and The Shack brings this out very nicely in a captivating and heart-wrenching tale. It may shake up those with more rigid views, in particularly the Sunday morning Christian crowd; but I think this shaking up, or rather "waking up" strikes closer to the essence of a personal relation with the divine than any group ritual or institutional form. It reminds me a little of Christopher Moore's book _Lamb_, which was a story of the life of Jesus told by his best friend, and 13th apostle, Biff. That one was much more light-hearted, but also eye-opening in the ways we typically frame our messiahs and messengers of what lies beyond.

I enjoyed the discussions of "reality" and the layers of perception involved. It's always seemed to me that reality is not all that black and white. There are degrees of "real" as well as various facets. All in all, a good read, inspiring and some deep exploration of the nature of our relationships with our world, our fellow humans and this awesome mystery of which we are a very small and gradually awakening part.