Faith and Movies: Musings from 'The Shack'

I recently watched ‘The Shack’ which is the screen adaptation of William Young’s New York Times Bestselling book ‘The Shack’, and tells the story of the Phillips Family but primarily the focus is on the father of the family, Mack whose life is shattered when their youngest child Missy disappears during a camping trip which he is saving Kate and Josh, his other kids during a canoeing accident. The police determine that Missy is the victim of a serial killer. They don’t find a body is but they do find her torn bloodless dress.

The Phillips are a family of faith, but this tragedy derails Mack’s faith and life until the onset of winter when he receives an unstamped, typewritten note in his mailbox. The surrounding snow is devoid of any incriminating tracks. The message is signed "Papa" (which was his wife Nan’s nickname for God) and invites him to meet at the cabin.

Anyway, I do not want to ruin the story for you, as I would recommend you either buying the book and reading it or renting the movie and watching it.

While I was watching I was struck by a lot of things in the movie which I wanted to share – things about God and suffering including other interesting observations:

• When we cry God collects all our tears (Psalm 56 v 8)
• Love always leaves a mark
• We are all in the center of God’s love and purpose
• God is in everything
• Through pain and suffering, God is there
• In our mess, God is there
• In our storms, God is there
• God is doing work in our lives for good
• We are not meant to be on our own
• Prayer is a conversation between friends
• A future without God does not exist
• Religion is way too much work
• God doesn’t want slaves, He wants friends
• God wants us to know what it is like to be truly loved
• We shouldn’t make judgments on what people wear, how they look or what colour they are – God is the only judge
• No one is immune from evil
• There is no such thing as a pain-free life when sin is in the world
• Everything works better when we do it with Jesus
• God can make incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies but that doesn’t mean He orchestrates the tragedies
• When we forgive people we are trusting God to do what is right
• We don’t have to do things on our own, God is with us
• Tears help in our healing process