78.

"Oh child," spoke Papa tenderly.  "Don't ever discount the wonder of your tears.  They can be healing waters and a stream of joy.  Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak...this world is full of tears, but if you remember I promised that it would be Me who would wipe them from your eyes."

William P. Young
from The Shack

77.

"She began to speak slowly and deliberately.  "Mackenzie, I will take a verb over a noun anytime.  I am a verb.  I am that I am.  I will be who I will be.  I am a verb!  I am alive, dynamic, ever active, and moving.  I am a being verb.  And as my very essence is a verb, I am more attuned to verbs than nouns.  Verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing, and on and on.  Humans, on the other hand, have a knack for taking a verb that is alive and full of grace and turning into a dead noun or principle that reeks of rules: something growing and alive dies.  Nouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but if the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead.  Unless 'I am', there are no verbs, and verbs are what makes the universe alive."

"And," Mack was still struggling, although a glimmer or light seemed to begin to shine into his mind.  "And this means what, exactly?"

Sarayu seemed unperturbed by his lack of understanding.  "For something to move from death to life you must introduce something living and moving into the mix.  To move from something that is only a noun to something dynamic and unpredictable, to something living and present tense, is to move from law to grace."

William P. Young
from The Shack

76.

"Nobody knows what horrors I have saved the world from 'cuz people can't see what never happened.  All evil flows from independence, and independence is your choice.  If I were to simply revoke all the choices of independence, the world as you know it would cease to exist and love would have no meaning.  This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil.  Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say.  Now it touches everyone that I love, those who follow me and those who don't.  If I take away the consequences of people's choices, I destroy the possibility of love.  Love that is forced is no love at all."

William P. Young
from The Shack

75.

"People are tenacious when it comes to the treasure of their imaginary independence.  They hoard and hold their sickness with a firm grip.  The find their identity and worth and their brokenness and guard it with every ounce of strength they have.  No wonder grace has such little attraction.  In that sence you have tried to lock the door of your heart from the inside."

"But I didn't succeed."

"That's because My love is bigger than your stupidity."

William P. Young
from The Shack

74.

"Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies.  Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes.  That will only lead you to false notions about me.  Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering, you will find grace in many facets and colors."

William P. Young
from The Shack

73.

"Those who love Me come from every system that exists.  They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don't vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions.  I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous.  Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians.  I have no desire to make them Christians, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved."

"Does that mean," asked Mack, "that all roads will lead to you?"

"Not at all," smiled Jesus as he reached for the door handle to the shop.  "Most roads don't lead anywhere.  What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you."

William P. Young
from The Shack

72.

"The darkness hides the true size of fears and lies and regrets,"Jesus explained.  "The truth is they are more shadow than reality, so they seem bigger in the dark.  When the light shines into the places they live inside you, you start to see them for what they are."

"But why do we keep all that crap inside?" Mack asked.

"Because we believe it's safer there.  And, sometimes, when you're a kid trying to survive, it really is safer there.  Then you grow up on the outside, but on the inside you're still that kid in the dark cave surrounded by monsters, and out of habit you keep adding to your collection..."

"So how does that change, you know, for somebody who's lost in the dark, like me?

"Most often, pretty slowly," Jesus answered.  "Remember, you can't do it alone.  Some floks try with all kinds of coping mechanisms and mental games. But the monsters are still there, just waiting for the chance to come out."

"So what do I do now?"

"What you're already doing, Mack, learning to live loved.  It's not an easy concept for humans.  You have a really hard time sharing anything."  He chuckled and continued.  "So yes, what we desire is for you to 're-turn' to us, and then we come and make our home inside you, and then we share.  The friendship is real, not merely imagined.  We're meant to experience this life, your life, together, in a dialogue, sharing the journey.  You get to shar in our wisdom and learn to love with our love..."

William P. Young
from The Shack