Hilary Barnett

I just finished rereading The Shack by William Paul Young- one of my favorite books of 2008. It was worth a second look, as there were so many powerful statements that just shook my preconceived notions of God, and brought me to a fresh understanding of His nature. I have compiled my favorite quotes here for your enjoyment. Hopefully they will challenge you, inspire you, and endear you to the heart of the Lord as they did me.

Papa (God): “Honey, there’s no easy answer that will take your pain away. Believe me, if I had one, I’d use it now. I have no magic wand to wave over you and make it all better. Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship” (92).

Papa: “The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn’t much, and then call that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I’m not merely the best version of you that you can think of. I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think” (98).

Papa: “Who wants to worship a God who can be fully comprehended, eh? Not much mystery in that” (101).

Sarayu (Holy Spirit): “Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself- to serve.”

Papa: “There are millions of reasons to allow pain and hurt and suffering rather than to eradicate them, but most of these reasons can only be understood within each person’s story. I am not evil. You are the ones who embrace fear and pain and power and rights so readily in your relationships. But your choices are not stronger than my purposes, and I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome” (125).

Sarayu: “Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from me, you can only draw upon yourself. That is death because you have separated from me: Life” (136).

Jesus (in response to Mack’s question about why he spends a great deal of time worrying about the future): “It is your desparate attempt to get some control over something you can’t. It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn’t even real, nor will it ever be real. You try and play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try and make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear.”

Mack: “Why do I have so much fear in my life?”

Jesus: “Because you don’t believe. You don’t know that we love you. The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love… to the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe that I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it; you talk about it, but you don’t know it” (142).

Jesus: “Seriously, my life was not meant to be an example to copy. Being my follower is not trying to ‘be like Jesus’, it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life. We will come and live our life inside of you, so that you begin to see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and touch with our hands, and think like we do. But we will never force that union on you. If you want to do your thing, have at it. Time is on our side” (149).

Papa: “Have you noticed that in your pain you assume the worst of me? I’ve been talking to you for a long time, but today was the first time you could hear it, and all those other times weren’t a waste, either” (176).

Jesus: “As well intentioned as it might be, you know that religious machinery can chew up people!” (179)

Jesus: “I don’t create institutions- never have, never will” (179).

Jesus: “Remember, the people who know me are the ones who are free to live and love without any agenda” (181).

Jesus: “Who said anything about being a Christian? I’m not a Christian” (182).

“‘Does that mean’, asked Mack, ‘that all roads will lead to you?’ ‘Not at all’, smiled Jesus as he reached for the door handle to the shop. ‘Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.’” (182)

Sarayu: “It is true that relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of the heart and they will never love you” (198).

Sarayu: “Mackenzie, religion is about having the right answers, and some of their answers are right. But I am about the process that takes you to the living answer and once you get to him, he will change you from the inside” (198).

Sarayu: “Mack, if anything matters than everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again” (235).