Monday, January 19, 2009

The Inauguration ~ A day of hope and joy!

As I get ready to go to bed, with a giddy anticipation for tomorrow, I am in awe of what our country is about to embark on and I am moved by the joy that I've heard others speak to as they are witnesses to this historical presidential journey. I can't say that I can relate to their hopes for a better tomorrow on a personal level as I haven't experienced their pain, but I can say that I am joyful for their joy, if that makes any sense. My wish for our country is that the spirit of tomorrow (all of its hopes and potential) live in each of our hearts and that we all act from that place so that together, along side this new president, we can help make a difference in the lives of others; a true difference, a difference of the spirit. We will never be here again, not in this same place of hope, not in the same way; let us be grateful for all that tomorrow represents.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Shack ~ my top book for 2008

THE SHACK!!!
by William P. Young

I don't think I can put into words just how much I LOVED this book. I've read it twice; once on my own and then again for my book club, as my selection, about five months after I read it the first time.

As I continue to be open to all the gifts of different religions and faiths, search through my own heart, and keep a watchful eye out for the presence of the Divine (which I see each and every day through my children), I read this with goosebumps on my arms (I have them now, as I type), tears in my eyes, and a warmness in my heart. I did think and felt, hmmmm...why have I been so doubtful? Perhaps its the universes inability to give me concrete answers without a shadow of a doubt. Still I have questions about religion and God and all that Divine, but I what I do know is that what ever it is, it surrounds us, it is in us, it is us. It's what connects us to each other.

OK, so back to the book. What a beautiful story about forgiveness. Whatever you believe on a religious level, this book will touch your heart and stir your soul. It has so many wonderful nuggets.

So, grab a warm blanket, a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, sink into your favorite reading spot, and enjoy the journey of The Shack!

Here's the back cover:
Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later n the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!