Lets Talk Shack

We are without a doubt chilly here, we awoke this morning to snow, cold wind and then rain. We are Canadian and we shake it off and move forward. Simply put we just grin and bear it as it is life where we choose to live.

Please do gather around as the Fireside is open first for you the reader then getting down to a topic which needs to be written about, well that is in my simple and very limited writing abilities. Help yourself to hot chocolate as it is the drink of choice. As well a new treat for you tonight I like to call Bush Bannock. Sorry for those who are gluten intolerant this one is loaded. Flour, water, a ton of butter. The top is laced with apple slices, then the entire thing is slathered with honey and cinnamon.

So shall we... drop in anytime and please do leave a comment if you like. I may be trending very lightly on some peoples belief systems. If so my hugs in advance. Just know that you are dearly loved here... Hugs as always.

Like most people I have watched or listened to this book. The first time I did I was drifing down the Bow River here in Alberta fly fishing and I was captivated by the loss the father was suffering through, inconceivable that someone could steal a child and do what they did.

I know that some people who lay their eyes on the writings of William P Young in the book of The Shack may turn away and call it written against their belief system. There are several reasons why it may be a bit a provocative read. Let me expand on that concept in itself.

We are taught throughout our lives that God is male, He is omnipotent and always present. To have someone suggest God himself would be a large black lady would be enough to call the book false. You would be right but please do read on people and do so with an open mind and take your blinders off. In the introduction of the book itself the writer specifically stresses the book is fictional.

The meaning of fictional is that it is not the truth. Thus the Shack is not caught up in a battle with God over who is right or wrong, it is a story of one mans journey, nothing more or nothing less.

The book itself uses a shack as a place to tell the story. It places us all into the realm where the most horrible of horrible could happen to young Missy. Let me blow away what you have conceived and tell you that The Shack is the place we find ourselves, it is the place we all keep our inner most secrets. I have no intentions of getting into your shack other than to stand with you in love.

Concisely place yourself inside your own shack. In there you will find as I have those things that our inner being hold secret to the outside world. Now consider what we do in the shacks of our lives. We protect those secrets from all and yet they can not be hidden from the God you have.

What is it we want to present to other. Standing from within we paint this facade we want others to see. We are very careful to cover our flaws with perfection. Painting the picture we are just fine, life is great and we have little or no desire to seek change that would make us better. If threatened we work even harder to cover what we see inside.

I think I would be right if we called ourselves closet people. Much the same as what we read in The Shack. We are so busy trying to keep the facade up and in place we forget to seek our willingness to heal that place.

Let me ask you or you ask me… “How are you.” Our general answer is great. could not be better. I would not change a thing… is the pat answer. It is safe and yet like inside the shack it is a lie, a devastating lie. It robs us of so many things, the main one is the loss of hope.

Well should we answer truthfully we are not great, really we would love things to be better. The sad part is we stand behind that facade all is perfect but we feel the pang of pain from what others can not see, the things we keep secret from the inside of our shacks where pain and suffering are just too darned clear and painful.

Several years ago I attended a healing retreat where I shared some very deep and dark secrets of my past. They were all those things I had kept hidden away from even the closest people. The two people whom counselled me were wonderful people. They slowly started to enter into my shack and gently peel away the scabs. Yes they opened those wounds and it was painful.

After three days I was emptied and I mean completely, there was nothing more to give. I recall the greatest fear of having to dismantle the walls and expose the truth.

Turn to a trusted friend and allow them into your world especially if they are of the same faith as you. Allow your faith to enter into that dark place and place light into those places. After revisiting The Shack and the study guide I have unknowingly allowed myself to create a new shack.

It is a truly difficult thing to look deep within and see the darkness... no matter what you find in there know that you are dearly loved...

Rolly A. Chabot