The Shack

Foreword

Summary Notes:

· Mack’s father: Irish-American, farmer, externally religious, strict, church-elder, closet drinker, physically abusive to family, believes in God (asks for forgiveness).

· Mack as a child: Farm kid, feels guilty about not defending mom, vengeful (poison, p8).

· Mack as an adolescent: Hurt, bold, running (left home at 13, p8).

· Mack as a young adult: Explorer (world traveler, p9), soldier, hates war, searching for answers in seminary, tired of theology, speaks his mind freely as a survival mechanism to cover his hurts, points out other people’s faults and humiliates them.

· Mack as a grown man before The Great Sadness: Wants peace, thinks more than talks, is a doer (farm work ethic), ordinary, unremarkable, smart in his career field, loves talking about God and creation and beliefs, not very religious, views God as brooding, distant, aloof, uses sarcasm, sees the world in many shades of gray.

· Mack’s wife (Nan): Views the world as black and white, has a lot of common sense, wanted to be a doctor but had kids instead, is a nurse, works with terminal patients, has a deep relationship with God,

· Mack after The Great Sadness: Polite, shallow, evasive, protective, hurting.

Splinters from “Shaq:”

1. Do you have anything in your closet that you keep from “church” people?

2. Are you searching for answers about anything in life?

3. What kind of people do you surround yourself with?

4. What topic do you protect yourself from most of the time?

5. How would you rank your relationship with God at this time?