The Great Sadness

some books change me forever

and startle me like a stranger in my living room

who prompts me to gasp then smile

and calmly say "Oh, there you are."

I too have experienced the Great Sadness

which you lifted and turned into joy

not a quick-fix band-aid pull

more like ice melting

drip

by

drip

I can't go back to the calendar

and point to it's departure

all I know is freedom

to take in the stars with You on the dock

to get dirt under my fingernails

while we uproot the garden

for those great talks over pies in the kitchen

but three people I love are now stuck in the ice

of the Great Sadness

and they don't really believe in Your spring

even though they hear it every Sunday

I hold my breath, paralyzed to watch them

like a child drowning in 6 inches of water

or a six year old in a shack with a monster

but only You can rescue, release, and redeem

so I let out my breath

and trust in Your plan

because in the end

the Great Sadness

just doesn't hold water or ice

next to the warmth of Your joy,

Papa

Mack: "I just can't imagine any final outcome that would justify all this."

Papa: "We're not justifying it. We're redeeming it."

William P. Young, The Shack

"Real Christianity does not say love is blind, it says love takes a good long look."

Dr. Bob Laurent, New Community, 2/21/08

"When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You'll no longer be so full of questions." John 16:21-23

Other Great lines from The Shack by William P. Young:

"Just remember, you gotta clean what you catch."

"Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship."

"Freedom can never be forced."

"When all you can see is your pain, perhaps you lose sight of Me?"

"Living unloved is like clipping a bird's wings and removing it's ability to fly . . . this isn't Sunday school. It's a flying lesson."

"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 the relationship." (referring to Jesus)

"I am not who you think I am, MacKenzie. I don't need to punish people for sin. Sin is it's own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It's not my purpose to punish it; it's my joy to cure it . . . I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome."

"Rights are where survivors go, so they won't have to work out relationships."

" . . . your independence with its quest for power and fulfillment actually destroys the relationship your heart longs for."

"Love is just the skin of knowing."

"Some folks try with all kinds of coping mechanisms and mental games. But the monsters are still there, just waiting for the chance to come out."

"As well-intentioned as it might be, you know that religious machinery can chew up people."

" . . . out of what seems to be a huge mess, Papa weaves a magnificent tapestry."

"You don't have to have it all figured out. Just be with me."

"Relax, Mack; this is not a test. It's a conversation."