I abhor religion.

Strange way to start one of these things, right? Well, don't click "Back" just yet! Give me a chance to explain what I mean, and then why I felt the need to share something like this with all of you. I want to talk about a book, but to understand the book (and my words), you need to understand this first...

Religion is not the same as faith, in my experience. Faith is what civilizations throughout the ages have shared. Faith is something personal, and at the same time global. Every person in the world has faith in something, be it God, the stock market, our spouse, or the simple fact that the sun will rise each morning. Faith is not limited by anything, it does not require any stipulations or rules to exist and flourish. Each of us feels faith in a different way, but we all experience it at some point or another.

Religion, on the other hand, is man-made, in an attempt to add ceremony to faith. In its purest conceptual stage, religion is a good thing, allowing men all over the world to experience the same unified faith in a higher power. It enables us to have support and fellowship in our own search for answers, and gives us a chance to participate in something bigger than ourselves. However, religion is corrupted. It is NOT pure and simple, like faith, and has become more about rites and rituals than about God.

Before you start thinking this is a rant against religion, let me assure you, it is not. I simply give you these differences so you will understand a little better what I am going to talk to you about. It is important that you understand that the words I speak are not words fed to me from a pulpit, but my own, from my heart, the same place all my thoughts on God have come from.

This book, The Shack, offers such a refreshing look at the face of God, it is impossible to really describe it. It is not a "self-help" book, and it is not an "epic Christian tale". It is a simple book with a simple message that is so complex.... Well, I am getting ahead of myself.

The book follows the strange tale of Mack, a man not at all unfamiliar with sadness. He goes through life in a fog, and does not even realize it. You see, Mack's youngest child was abducted and brutally murdered at the age of seven. When Mack receives a note in the mail, apparently from God Himself, inviting Mack back to the scene of this horrific experience, he is bewildered. At first thinking it a cruel joke, he is soon consumed with a need to know... Is it really from God? If not, who would write such a thing, asking him to return to a place of such nightmares? If it is from God, why now? And why a note?

The journey Mack takes is so spectacular, you won't believe your eyes as you read it. And I do heartily recommend you read it. No matter WHAT your religious background is, no matter what your faith is, even if you have none at all in your own eyes, this book will show you a different side to the God so many of us call Father... Abba... Papa.

I can hardly hold back from sharing the details of the story, the twists and turns, the teary scenes as well as those that will make you laugh out loud (probably to the chagrin of anyone in the room), but this is truly a book you must experience for yourself. It won't "change your life", and probably won't even change your personal view on God, but it will give you a sense of the God we worship, the God we have FAITH in, in a much better way than an old dusty Bible ever could.

If you are interested in reading The Shack, you can find information about it at [link] , and I recommend you do.