61 year ago

10/30/10

Just this last month I have had the opportunity to listen to a 2009 DVD which featured Paul Young the author of the book THE SHACK. The DVD had been loaned to us about a year ago asking us to listen to it and then send it on to other friends. Yesterday I received permission to start the DVD on its long delayed journey back home. I need to pass the DVD to others and to extract vital quotations for my own life.

Wilma and I had read the book at least a year ago and essentially set it aside.  Lots of questions about the book at first, all the different images etc. and then we forgot about the book and hurried along into our routines.  Our fiends came into town a month ago and while having dinner asked if we could return the DVD. First, I had to find it! 

The ironic part of all of this is that October 2009 it is exactly 60 years since I began my "journey" with Jesus Christ. Now, 61 years later I hear the story of why THE SHACK was written.  One of Paul Young's comments was, " the shack is a metaphor for the heart....".                                  

This morning as I was pondering some Paul's comments it occurred to me that I too have my "shack" - different than Paul's shack, for sure, but it is still a shack, my shack! What saved my life was an obscure verse that I had not even memorized -- "even though our hearts condemn us, Jesus is greater than our hearts."  That morning, many many years ago now, I was able to step back from my "cliff", a hole in the ice of a very deep lake. On the drive home from that retreat, broken and all alone, Jesus spoke to my heart and told me that I had needed to see my "shack" but that he still had a ministry for me.

Sixty one years later, I understand now, even more, how deeply Jesus loves me, how much comfort there is in that love, and how much freedom comes from opening the door to the shacks that we create.

When I get the DVD back I'll try to filter out some of the quotations that were used to give me a glimpse of this wonderful journey in Jesus Christ, including the many bumps in the road!


Bill
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