Believe or not

I just finished reading The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. It was suggested by a new friend who raved about the contents. Instead of ordering the kindle version I chose to acquire a used paperback version because my intuition told me it was a book that needed to stay on my book shelf. I always try to follow my soul guidance.

Reading this book surprised me that I believe much of the same things as the author about creation. I found it amusing that he portrayed God/the Creator as a woman. Why not? That entity does not have a body so it could be anything one chooses to believe/see. Jesus was portrayed as a human, which he was and the Holy Spirit was difficult to vision. All three were/are always present in our lives.

I have always believed the bible was not written by God, but by humans just like you and me. They just lived in different times and places. I liked the author's perception that the bible is about relationships with the Creator and fellow beings. I had never thought of it that way, but he is right. It doesn't tell us what to do or how to do it, but simply offers life experiences in story form, which we can follow or not.

One of the most interesting thoughts I found in this book was that God did not create the church, which is full of rules to follow if you want to be "saved". Man created the church to gain control over humans.

 I have never believed that God/the Creator is someone to be afraid of. That's just a gut feeling. That entity does not punish or judge us, but simply offers pure everlasting love. I also think hell was created by clergy who wanted to scare us into perfection. What a joke that is! God does not create flawed humans. We are all perfect in his/her eyes.

As I finished the book yesterday I had a problem with the author's purpose of Jesus. I couldn't quite follow his train of thought. It bothered me a lot until this morning I remembered that The Shack is a work of fiction and I can believe it or not.