Browse Topics
Tools
Editor's choice

Having a baby in Belgium

Pregnant? Here is a quick guide for the expatriate parent-to-be in Belgium.

Fitness tips for 2010

Research shows exercise can improve your health, confidence and quality of life.

Language classes in Brussels

The where, when, what type and how much in the capital.

Tintin embarks on new adventure in Ch

A new, more faithful Mandarin translation is launched.

Europe en route for portable pensions

We look at how a recent directive from the EU aims to facilitate the process.

New opportunities and tools for moving your business around Europe

EU Commission makes business easier...in theory.



You are here: Home Life in Blogs & photos What's going on in The Shack?
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


05/06/2009What's going on in The Shack?

In his blog 'Fragments', David Willows takes a walk with Mack Philips and knocks on heaven's door.

if you haven’t yet read The Shack by William P. Young, you might want to look away now.

This hugely successful book is the story of Mack (Mackenzie) Philips, whose daughter, Missy, is abducted and killed during a family vacation. In the opening chapters, you discover that Missy’s body was never found. However, the police did find evidence in an abandoned shack to prove that she had been brutally murdered by a notorious serial killer.

Living in the shadow of this Great Sadness, Mack one day receives a strange note, apparently from God, inviting him to return to this shack for a meeting.

What should you do when you come to the door of a house, or cabin in this case, where God might be? Should you knock? Presumably God already knew that Mack was there. Maybe he ought to simply walk in and introduce himself, but that seemed equally absurd. And how should he address him? Should he call him Father, or Almighty One, or perhaps Mr. God, and would it be best if he fell down and worshipped, not that he was really in the mood.

As he tried to establish some inner mental balance, the anger that he thought had so recently died inside him began to emerge. No longer concerned or caring about what to call God and energized by his ire, he walked up to the door. Mack decided to bang loudly and see what happened, but just as he raised his fist to do so, the door flew open, and he was looking directly into the face of a large beaming African-American woman.

So far, so good. The story moves powerfully between the traumatic reality of human sorrow and contingent existence, on the one hand, and the suspicion of a higher being, on the other, who can pull these broken pieces into some kind of meaningful whole. Personally, I loved the element of surprise. Who would have thought that, having knocked on heaven’s door, Mack would find himself standing face to face with ‘God’ in the form of an African-American woman?




0 reactions to this article

participate in the forums
ask your question
find the business you need
Discussion Forums

Relocation

Moving a family to Brussels from New Zealand, by chalks

Relocation

From UK to Belgium: paperwork?, by chalks

Family

New Zealand family heading to Brussels in June, by woluwemum

Technology

A UK TV in Belgium?, by zed

Family

Looking for mums with babies in Antwerp, by niklof

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Looking for work in Belgium

Looking for work in Belgium

This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes how to write a CV, application procedure, interview dos and don'ts, Belgian management culture.

Practical, easy-to-use, free and... in English

Practical, easy-to-use, free and... in English

Belgium’s first alternative directory assistance services - available through the shortcode 14-14 - can now be accessed on the internet.

Finding a rental home in Belgium

Finding a rental home in Belgium

Moving to Belgium presents a host of challenges to expats, not least of all finding the right home.

Learning to cope with life abroad

Learning to cope with life abroad

The psychological effects of global mobility can be physically painful.