The Shack. :)

Wow! What a story! I feel so cleansed after having read that. Part of that may be because it inspired me to set a few things straight that I had done in the past and wasn't proud of. Ironically enough, I feel like setting those things straight may have also been selfish of me, something I never wanted to be. Deep down I feel like it is never too late for the truth and truthfully is the natural way to be living. "Living the truth will set you free," right? I wish I felt better then.

There were a couple of things I lied about and I am not proud of, and to one of the most important people in my life. That's something I have to forgive myself for now. I just didn't want him to have any misconceptions of me. In all honesty, only part of it was for my benefit; I really felt like he needed to know I'm not as good as he thinks I am. Why would I do that? I don't know. Perhaps I'm being too hard on myself.

I can only live now and be the best that I can be.

I wouldn't be surprised if any of you who have read this book, impulsively ran off and tried to right a wrong in your life. It may be painful, but it's never too late to start living right. The power of this story is incredible.

My faith has been strong for a while now. I always feel like it needs to be stronger and I'm not sure how to get there. I'm trying. This book really feels like if I were having a conversation with God, God would have said the same things. I know in my heart that so much of this is true.

For a long time, I felt inferior because I wasn't as educated in religion. Growing up I was never interested in it. I had one parent who made fun of it constantly and one who struggled to keep my sisters and I interested, but gave up. I always believed in God but there was no relationship. I love the point that this book illustrates about how God would say that institutionalized religion doesn't ultimately matter. What institutionalized religion emphasizes is expectations. I've always felt this way and I think that is why I steered clear of going to church a lot. Something about it seems awkward and hierarchial to me. It's like somewhere in there it becomes about what other people are thinking of you, when that doesn't even matter. What matters is your own personal relationship with God. Don't get me wrong I love churches, but in small doses, and the type of church I'm in is irrelevant.

I want to mention a couple of inspiring excerpts from the book, but these won't even begin to cover the brilliance of the story.

This first one is God speaking,

"Consider our little friend here. Most birds were created to fly. Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around. You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around..... Living unloved is like clipping a bird's wings and removing its ability to fly. Not something I want for you. Mack, pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly. And if left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.."

I love the logical statements of fact. It all seems so simple when reasoned this way. A bit about good vs. "evil"...

God (Sarayu) speaking again,

"You must give up your right to decide what is good and evil on your own terms. That is a hard pill to swallow; choosing to only live in me. To do that you must know me enough to trust me and learn to rest in my inherent goodness. Evil is a word we use to describe the absence of Good, just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of Life. Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from me, you can only draw upon yourself. That is death because you have separated yourself from me: Life."

*Just like in Phsyics, where cold doesn't actually exist. Cold is simply the absence of heat.

Read this. :) http://www.theshackbook.com/index.html

I love wind= Sarayu.