The reason I ventured out there was to take pictures of this phenomenon in order to capture something unique about the place where I grew up. I have some good memories of hiking out to see the ice with my dad as a kid, and again when he was sick. I was inspired to do a poetry lesson on the idea of "place" after reading a book I bought while out in New Mexico, called Blue Horses Rush In by Luci Tapahonso.
So yes. I have still been reading, even though not as diligently as I planned to originally. I thought I would be able to read while in New Mexico, or at least during the 60 hours(!) I was in the van getting to and from New Mexico, but it just didn't happen. But I still have this last week to read a few more books, and on top of my list is The Shack.
Before you rush to tell me that you've read it, I'm aware that generally everyone has read it except for me. ;) I've heard about it for months, since Rosewood Church did a bookstudy on it during Summer Family Nights, and have been meaning to read it... but it just never happened. But when Pastor Henry sent out an email earlier this week about the upcoming sermon series that will draw from the book, I finally felt inclined to put it at the top of my list and read it already. I'm about halfway through.
I'm aware of its controversiality, but so far I can see why people are drawn to it. It offers something different than what is generally "assumed" (and not all what we "assume" as Christianity is Truth!) and gets at a small place in the heart that has imagined the things that this author articulates. I think Young is right in that God wants to be known, but so often our own perceptions of God and of His Truth box him up into something that He isn't. While I don't think Young would argue that the "right" view of God is X, Y and Z, I think he is arguing that we can't imagine what God is truly like, so we need to let God be God and worship Him (or Her! -wink- Why doesn't the English language have a gender-neutral pronoun!? Although the colloquial "they" would be appropriate here...) um, where was I? Ah yes: and worship God in a fuller, unrestrained, uncertain sense. Not that God wants us to blindly follow Him (now I'm conscious of that pronoun!)--- we have Jesus, given to us in the flesh, and who will always be human with us. I think Young is onto something there, too... We'll just have to see where it goes.
Not all of these things are conclusions made from reading half of a work of fiction about it. I've been thinking about these things since high school, and it's nice to be reading something that echoes a few of my suspicions about the aforementioned "assumed" truths. I had a teacher who basically suggested that, as an act of worship and meditation, we think of God as other than Father or male. (Jesus himself refers to God as a mother hen in Matthew 23:37- "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.")
In college, too, I have been challenged in how I perceive God, especially during my Doctrine of Christ and Reconciliation course with Professor Schneider. I learned a lot, and allowed myself to become more open to listening to other perspectives --from Christians!--that didn't necessarily fit within the framework of the CRC. I don't "collect" theological ideas and put them in a box, but I do take into consideration how this idea helps me to understand the world, or other people's view of the world. This is true for the issues that Young is talking about in the book. Some people are quick to write him off because he is suggesting idolatry or universalism, but it would be worth taking the time to hear him out, because it helps to understand our critics, both within Christian scholarship and from the world. I heard an excellent January Series lecture on Thursday, from the guy who wrote UnChristian, David Kinnaman. He reminded us that Jesus uses the world to keep the Church accountable. Yes, it's worth listening to what others are saying. I think reading The Shack with an open mind is one way to do that.
In other news, I start student teaching on February 2. I couldn't be more excited! :) I'm sure you'll hear plenty of stories in the coming months about my adventures in the classroom.
Betsy
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