The Shack.

For years, folks have been telling me “You gotta read The Shack. You gotta read The Shack!” The reviews were overwhelmingly positive. I would just mention it and folks would leap into, “this book is amazing,” “it changed my life,” “I’ve read it 100 times…” After I finally read the book I’ve become those people–I can finally say, “I get it.”

I’m the type of person that attempts to read every book before it becomes a movie because I’m afraid that I’ll accidentally end up watching the movie, and it will never live up to the book. So, when they announced The Shack movie, I remembered my friends’ advice, took my ass to the bookstore, and bought the book. I ended up at one of my favorite used bookstores, and the nice copies were all sold out. All that was left was a tattered copy with highlights and writing in it. The cover had a long ass note to some young lady going to college who probably should’ve kept the book, but dumped it anyways. Shame on her. I bought it anyways.

This book, to me, is like the new, new testament. It was so refreshing, so relevant, so powerful, it’s up there with the Bible in terms of books you oughta refer back to. Except it wasn’t like the Bible at all. It was so good, I really don’t want to spoil it. I’ll give you some highlights though to get you salivating.

• This book had so many quotes to live by. If you just google “The Shack quotes” I promise your life will be blessed. I already posted one of my favorites on social media. It’s about what God wants:

“All I want from you is to trust me with what little you can, and grow in loving people around you with the same love I share with you. It’s not your job to change them, or to convince them. You are free to love without an agenda.”

• Based on that quote, you can probably tell that God is a primary character in this book. It won’t spoil the story if I tell you that God is black woman. It spoils the story for some people, which I find terribly amusing, but I rock with it really hard. What rule says God is male or female? So many made-up rules…
• Despite all this, The Shack is not a Christian book. It’s a book about spirituality, kinda like The Alchemist. It takes you on one man’s journey and shows you how faith and love can get you through anything.
• If you’ve ever dealt with serious loss, you need this book. If you question your faith, you need this book. If you’re angry at God/the Universe/whomever, you need this book. If you think you’ll never make it through whatever you’re going through, you need this book.
• Most importantly, if you ask me, I’ll probably buy you a copy of this book. I might become the aunt or cousin or friend writing letters at the front of the book telling you that it’s about to change your life. That’s how much I need you to read. This. Book.

I think you guys get the picture.