The Shack - A Friendly Discussion

I am currently reading The Shack by William Young. My dear friend, Terry, read it a few weeks ago and recommended it to me, telling me that she would loan it to me but she wanted to re-read her copy and mark it up. She was sure I would want to have my own copy for the same reasons. She was right!l

I haven't finished the book yet, although I probably will finish it later today. When I first started the book I could not put it down. First of all, it was taking place in an area I visited just last month so that intrigued me. I could literally see the road the family was taking on their trip, and stopped at the very falls they did. I even visited the gift shop! Now, I'm slowing down in reading the book because it has changed from an exciting mystery to ... well, an exciting mystery of a different sort.

Let's talk about this book .... Remembering to respect each other and not be judgmental. Remember, it's a work of fiction this man wrote for his family. It's become a bestseller and very controversial ... I love that it's controversial and challenging people!

A Side Note to The Shack

I was in Portland the end of August on business. I met up with an online friend, Elaine, who offered to take me to see some of the scenery and a few waterfalls. We hit it off as soon as we met and had a great time getting to know each other as she drove me through some beautiful company. At our first stop we met up with two women from Canada who were sight seeing after attending a spiritual conference. We continued to see them at each stop we made along the way, laughing and making comments and taking pictures together.

Our final stop was Multnomah Falls (the very place the family stops on their camping journey) where I was deeply affected by the beauty and the spirituality of the area. I remember commenting that it reminded me of how I felt when I saw the Grand Canyon and Niagra Falls, humbled and overwhelmed by the awesomeness of it all. Our new friends were there, too, and were continuing their journey north while we were returning to Portland. We chatted for awhile, took pictures and had pictures taken of the four of us, and then said goodbye. At that point, one of the women handed my friend Elainea book and said she wanted her to have it. I paid little attention to that as I was still exploring my own feelings about the Falls and the spirituality that was in the air.

Today I found out that the book our new friend gave to Elaine was ... The Shack. It all makes sense in "the Universe is Perfect" kind of way, doesn't it?

Negative People In Our Lives ...

A post was made at Jackie's blog that got me thinking it would be a good topic for over here. Here is the post made by Clementine: "Syd: A few days ago, Renny and Keesha were talking about how they had a new perspective (after the BB experience) and what they would change when they got home. Both said that they would stop associating with certain people in their lives (who brought negative energy). I got the impression that Keesha was talking about some party friends and that Renny was talking about family members." What do you do about negative people in your life? Do you tolerate them? Do you join in their negativity? Do you avoid them? Do you cut them out of your life? Are you one of them? Do you fight negativity yourself?

I'd like to explore this topic a little further. Care to join me? Oh, the image was chosen to get rid of any negative energy for this topic and this blog. I took it when PDXGranny (Elaine) and I were on what I call "The Oregon Waterfall Tour". There was no negativity that night!