The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity

by William Paul Young

most of our hurts come through relationships, so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside.

when all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?”

“You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.” Mack nodded his head, not so much in full agreement, but more as a signal that at least he understood and was tracking. That seemed simple enough. “Living unloved is like clipping a bird’s wings and removing its ability to fly. Not something I want for you.” There’s the rub. He didn’t feel particularly loved at the moment. “Mack, pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly.” She waited a moment, allowing her words to settle. “And if it’s left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.”

Wow

Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to hold power over another is to choose to limit oneself—to serve.

Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me.”

“Remember this. It allows you to play God in your independence. That’s why a part of you prefers not to see me. And you don’t need me at all to create your list of good and evil. But you do need me if you have any desire to stop such an insane lust for independence.”

“You must give up your right to decide what is good and evil on your own terms. That is a hard pill to swallow—choosing to live only in me. To do that, you must know me enough to trust me and learn to rest in my inherent goodness.”

Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.”

Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions.

“Just say it out loud. There is power in what my children declare.”