Sunday night we begin our consideration of The Shack. The main human character in the book, Mack, comes to the story with a difficult past. Beaten as a child by a father who was abusive to the entire family, his dad was a church-goer - an elder in the church - Mack remembers the time he shared the pain of his own inability to come to his mother's aide with a church leader at a youth revival. He was thirteen at the time. By the time he arrived home, Mom and his sisters were gone, and Dad was waiting for him to teach him a lesson.
Shortly after that incident, Mack left home, striking out on his own. He headed overseas, sending money back to his mother through his grandparents whenever he could. He spent some time in a seminary in Australia. Ultimately, he returned to the US, met a wonderful girl and got married. When the story is told, they have been married over thirty-three years, and have had five children together. Mack works in the "hi-tech" field - smart - not much of a talker - although, when he does speak, people listen to him.
Here is the question for us to consider: How does Mack's background affect his understanding of God? We are told that Mack's relationship with God was "broad", while his wife's (Nan's) was "deep".
The obvious spin-off from the question is this: How has your background affected your relationship with God? Your understanding of who God is (or might be)?
Chapter Two begins with this quote from Paul Tournier: Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.
Perhaps you could review the Legend of the Indian Maid in Chapter Two (pages 27-28).
And, the Biblical image we will use in terms of one's past and how it shaped their concept of God is that of David. How does the story of David and Goliath (I Samuel 17) telescope for us who David has been and who he will become?
You can begin the "conversation" by sharing any comments or thoughts you might have. Looking forward to Sunday evening ...
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