The first time I read The Shack, I was about ready to give up after the second chapter. It just didn't grab me. Because so many people I admire raved about the book, I decided to continue and I am so glad that I did. So please keep reading.
Because of the mission trip, I'm going to post lots of chapters in the next few days. Remember, this is a read-at-your-own-pace adventure. So don't feel you have to keep up with me.
On final note: in seminary, we read lots of books by a man named Norman Pittenger. He was a good theologian and had published LOTS of books -- 90 in fact. We joked about this and said, "He never had an unpublished thought." I bring this up to assure you that I do not plan on writing this much on a regular basis. I will have lots of unpublished thoughts!
Thanks! Jenny
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Chapters One and Two
I have never seen Mulnomah Falls but Jim has, a few times. He loves waterfalls and this one is probably the favorite of them all. His family used to go there frequently because Jim's maternal grandparents lived nearby. After Grandma and Grandpa Nicol died, their ashes were scattered over the Falls. Our family thinks of it as a holy place.
I want to write something about the death of the maiden and death of Jesus. Obviously, the story of the maiden is a beautiful love story. It highlights the nobleness of personal sacrifice undertaken for the good of the whole community. I sincerely hope that I would be willing to sacrifice my life if others were healed through by my death. Do you believe that this story is historically accurate? I don't. After all, it makes no logical sense. What force in the universe would cause a whole community's illness to be stopped because a young woman threw herself off a cliff? It is a story. And that is fine -- it is a lovely story.
Unlike the maiden story, I believe that the story of Jesus is based on something that happened in human history. But I do not believe that a Force in the universe (namely God) demanded Jesus' death as a prerequisite for God to love the rest of us. Who makes the rules for God? If God is God, doesn't God make the rules? And why would God make a rule that Jesus had to die? That just doesn't make sense to me.
I believe that God sent Jesus to teach and heal and love us (seek and save the lost) but people didn't get it. Instead, the authorities were threatened by him and sentenced him to die. Jesus could have gotten away -- he could have run back to Nazareth and become a quiet carpenter and would never be heard from again. But he believed that God would remain faithful, so Jesus refused to deny God and then was killed. (For a Biblical reference, see Matthew 21:33-42.)
I also believe that God raised Christ from the dead as a sign of victory over evil and life over death. Did Jesus make a personal sacrifice? He certainly did. Do you and I benefit from his courage and sacrificial love? We sure do. If he would have run and hidden in Nazareth, we never would have heard of him: no church, no faith, no knowledge of God's love. Jesus did an incredibly faithful and noble thing in his willingness to be faithful; we are some of the millions and millions of people over the centuries who have been richly blessed by it.
Please remember that in the United Church of Christ, we don't ask everyone to agree. You can say, "Boy, Jenny and I don't think alike on this at all." That is just fine. Ours is a denomination in which we ask people to think for themselves, to believe as God leads them.
Please comment on the book, my reflections, or whatever you want to comment on. I'm eager to hear what YOU think.
I want to write something about the death of the maiden and death of Jesus. Obviously, the story of the maiden is a beautiful love story. It highlights the nobleness of personal sacrifice undertaken for the good of the whole community. I sincerely hope that I would be willing to sacrifice my life if others were healed through by my death. Do you believe that this story is historically accurate? I don't. After all, it makes no logical sense. What force in the universe would cause a whole community's illness to be stopped because a young woman threw herself off a cliff? It is a story. And that is fine -- it is a lovely story.
Unlike the maiden story, I believe that the story of Jesus is based on something that happened in human history. But I do not believe that a Force in the universe (namely God) demanded Jesus' death as a prerequisite for God to love the rest of us. Who makes the rules for God? If God is God, doesn't God make the rules? And why would God make a rule that Jesus had to die? That just doesn't make sense to me.
I believe that God sent Jesus to teach and heal and love us (seek and save the lost) but people didn't get it. Instead, the authorities were threatened by him and sentenced him to die. Jesus could have gotten away -- he could have run back to Nazareth and become a quiet carpenter and would never be heard from again. But he believed that God would remain faithful, so Jesus refused to deny God and then was killed. (For a Biblical reference, see Matthew 21:33-42.)
I also believe that God raised Christ from the dead as a sign of victory over evil and life over death. Did Jesus make a personal sacrifice? He certainly did. Do you and I benefit from his courage and sacrificial love? We sure do. If he would have run and hidden in Nazareth, we never would have heard of him: no church, no faith, no knowledge of God's love. Jesus did an incredibly faithful and noble thing in his willingness to be faithful; we are some of the millions and millions of people over the centuries who have been richly blessed by it.
Please remember that in the United Church of Christ, we don't ask everyone to agree. You can say, "Boy, Jenny and I don't think alike on this at all." That is just fine. Ours is a denomination in which we ask people to think for themselves, to believe as God leads them.
Please comment on the book, my reflections, or whatever you want to comment on. I'm eager to hear what YOU think.
The Forward
I enjoyed reading the Forward of this book and I was almost to the end of the Forward before I realized that the author had written the it. Usually it is a friend or expert who introduces the book.
After reading the Forward, did you feel like you knew the main character -- Mack? I did.
My favorite sentence in the forward is this: "Suffice it to say that while some things may not be scientifically provable, they can still be true nonetheless." This is how I feel about the prayer journeys that we do in worship sometimes. Do we actually go to Jerusalem or Bethlehem or outer space? Well, at least our bodies don't! But I know I feel like I've been somewhere else besides the church sanctuary when the prayer is over. I know I've been with God. How about you?
Stay tuned for Chapter One! And please respond. You do that by clicking on the word COMMENTS and going from there.
After reading the Forward, did you feel like you knew the main character -- Mack? I did.
My favorite sentence in the forward is this: "Suffice it to say that while some things may not be scientifically provable, they can still be true nonetheless." This is how I feel about the prayer journeys that we do in worship sometimes. Do we actually go to Jerusalem or Bethlehem or outer space? Well, at least our bodies don't! But I know I feel like I've been somewhere else besides the church sanctuary when the prayer is over. I know I've been with God. How about you?
Stay tuned for Chapter One! And please respond. You do that by clicking on the word COMMENTS and going from there.
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