The strength of one's faith
Nausheen Rahman happily reads all about a return of belief
A gripping, emotionally charged account of one man's unbearable bereavement, The Shack makes readers (believers and non-believers) look at, rather into, their own deprivations, as well as their relationships with their creator. This is the story of Mackenzie Allen Phillips' overwhelming guilt compounded with his impotent anger at the injustice dealt out by destiny. WM Paul Young, a theologian, ghostwrites this story for Mack, his friend, who wanted him to write a narrative through which he could express to his wife and kids "not only the depth of his love, but also to help them understand what had been going on in his inside world. You know that place: where there is just you alone and maybe God, if you believe in him. Of course, God might be there even if you don't believe in him." Paul Young tells us in his foreword that what we are about to read is something he and Mack had struggled with for many months to put into words, that "It's a little, well……no, it is a lot on the fantastic side". Mack, an average guy, a responsible, loving husband and father, is suddenly hurled into the depths of despair when he loses a child, his youngest, six-year-old Missy. She has been kidnapped and apparently savagely killed. A terrible predicament, what he terms "The Great Sadness", descends upon him; his whole world is shattered. This deeply moving, soul-stirring story is about the loss of faith and its reinstatement. Much of the book's contents will read like a man's imagination working overtime, but it is the strength of one's faith that helps to make even the most incredible things seem real. While on a camping holiday with his children, Mack faces, and averts, a serious crisis when he saves his son from drowning. Unfortunately, another menace is lurking, waiting to wreak havoc. Missy disappears. After a frantic, desperate search, the police come to the conclusion that she has fallen prey to the insane "Little Ladykiller." She is his fifth victim, and just as in the case of the four little girls before her, her body is not found. When Mack first realizes that his daughter might be dead, he feels "a million years old, almost wishing he could somehow turn himself into a big, unfeeling rock". Missy's death has an overpowering effect also on her sister, Kate (who thinks the death was in some way due to her carelessness and that her parents hold her responsible). She builds a "fortress around her heart"; "it was as if something had died inside her, and now was slowly infecting her from the inside, spilling out occasionally in bitter words or emotionless silence". Mack's wife, Nan, stands steadily beside him and tries to reassure him that none of it was his fault. Mack distances himself from God; to him, nothing justifies the cruelty of what has happened. He does, gradually, succeed somewhat in putting his family's needs before his consuming sorrow. Four years after the dreadful tragedy, Mack receives a note in the mailbox. The envelope has only his first name typed on the outside; there is no stamp, postmark or return address. The note simply says: Mackenzie, It's been a while. I've missed you. I'll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together.
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