The Shack: Respite to the Weary Human

There are times when I think that living in the desert of Arizona has it's drawbacks.  The obvious virtual non stop heat for 4-6 months of summer is only one factor, albeit a HUGE factor, that leads me to the dismal conclusion that I live in a wasteland.  A h.o.t. wasteland.  That is not, however, why I sat down to write this evening.  I try to not write about the heat because it is just depressing.

It's storming tonight.  A really good, solid storm.  Often times it just threatens to storm:  dark skies, muggy air, crazy wind, lots of dust, lightning and even thunder come, but no rain.  I've been through so many rainless storms that I sometimes forget the power that rain has.  There is a cleansing power to rain as it washes away the day with all of it's trials and sadness.  The confrontations, disappointments, and unexpected or expected challenges can all just zoom down the gutters and off to some unknown water plant or sewer system to be forgotten.  God bless the rain.  I mean it.

I've been sitting by this window debating if I should just go stand out in the rain and let it drench me from head to toe.  The cleansing power of rain could do me some good.

The storm also reminds me of a quote from The Shack...

“There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine.  Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance, demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.  And unlike illness, it is largely a corporate rather than individual experience.  One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging in out within her purview.  All those affected this way are united by a mutual excuse, and the heart is suddenly and unexpectedly a little giddy.  There will be no apologies needed for not showing up to some commitment or other.  Everyone understands and shares in this singular justification, and the sudden alleviation of the pressure to produce makes the heart merry.”  (pg 15)

I've never experienced this kind of "corporate" experience since we don't really have the kind of weather that shuts things down here, but I do get a little giddy at times.

The Shack: Limiting Yourself

Bill and I were discussing why I thought he was a good teacher in Primary.  Oh shut up, we do talk and yes, sometimes I compliment him!  It took me a while to get there, but the bottom line was that I thought of this idea from The Shack about "limiting yourself".  Here's the quote:

“Remember that choosing to stay on the ground is a choice to facilitate a relationship; to honor it.  Mackenzie, you do this yourself.  You don’t play a game or color a picture with a child to show your superiority.  Rather, you choose to limit yourself so as to facilitate and honor that relationship.  You will even lose a competition to accomplish love.  It is not about winning and losing, but about love and respect.”  (pg 106)

Bill is really good about talking to the kids at their level.  Not eye level, or "on the ground", but at the level of their understanding.  We talked about how sometimes Kyra and I will push that to the next level and how that is good, but we have to be careful not to do that too much with Tasha. 

Last week, the girls had a fight because Tasha tends to "forget the rules" of a game when she loses too many times.  I understand how frustrated she could get, and at the same time I could see where her sister doesn't just want to let her win every time, she wants to challenge herself.  With this quote in mind, the argument seems pretty lame.  That's because I want them to have a relationship based on respect, but I'm not them and they are still young.

I think to "limit yourself" is to stop thinking/looking/feeling things from your perspective, and to start doing it from another's.  Some might call it empathy, but it doesn't even really have to go that far.  Say that you don't want to give a homeless person $5 outside of a fast food restaurant because you know the money would go further and be spent better at a grocery store.  But that's your broad perspective of what a person with a home, fridge, shelf, car, etc. has to work with and plan for.  What if you limit yourself and think that you really don't have any idea where you will be headed after your next meal, when you might eat next, who will be with you, if you have a place to sleep, etc.?  You're hungry and this is where you are.  You want to fulfill a need, one that maybe you haven't fulfilled in a long time. And maybe you stopped thinking long term or next day when you lost hope in that idea for whatever reason.  With that $5, you can spend a while indoors with air conditioning as a paying customer, get a meal and an ice cold drink that you can refill an take with you.

I'm having a hard time limiting myself as to where to stop the flow of ideas on this subject.  I think the main idea I want to come away with, especially when it comes to helping and serving others, is this:  the solution to their problem lies within themselves and how they are capable of handling it.  It doesn't matter what I would do because I'm not them.  It's my choice to help or not to help, serve or not to serve. 

The Shack, by Wm.Paul Young

Well, is anyone up for book club via blog?  I unearthed another book that took me forever to get through because there was so much meat in it to make me think.  Just like A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Shack is not my book so I had to type out all the good quotes to have for future reference.  I have it in a word document and it takes up something like 8 pages!  Crazy, I know, but it really had some life lessons in it for me.

The Shack is about a man spending a weekend with God, physically in His presence, on earth, in a shack.  It's about relationships.  For me it wasn't just about how to have a relationship with God, but how to translate that relationship into what I would want for myself and the people I love here on earth as well.  The book doesn't give you the churchy talk that seems to be so far out of reach for a person like me, but it makes it tangible, because God is standing right there talking.

I've read some of the reviews of the book and how the theologians pick apart different aspects of what is said.  Some are arguing about the Godhead and the Trinity.  To be completely honest, I don't even really care.  I'm not a theologian, so I am taking from this book what my heart says is good and true and right.  I'm already gaining a better relationship with my daughter by putting into action one of the quotes I wrote on my mirror. (I'll post it later)  I don't have any idea what faith the author of this book is, but I'm sure that he has a better relationship and understanding of my God that I have.

The main character in The Shack was described in this way:

“He can speak intelligently about most anything, and even though you sense he has strong convictions, he has a gentle way about him that lets you keep yours.”(pg 10)

That was all it took to hook me.  Any experience that can teach a person to be like that is an experience worth sharing.  That is a description that I would someday like to be said about me.  I'd like to be sure enough of myself that I can let other people be sure about themselves without it rocking my world.  Plus, I'd like to be able to speak intelligently about things :0

Now, I just have to figure out how to use the quotes I have without giving away the whole plot and characters, while still making it all make sense... (oh geez, just go get the book and read it so I can discuss it with you!  It will be life changing, I'm telling you!)