LL Cool J - Going Back To Cali

So last night I finished reading The Shack by WM. Paul Young (aka "Willie"). My mom suggested it to me and I liked the storyline and the message, but in the foreword he says it is actually based on a true story about his friend, Mack, and it's his friend's story, just told my Willie. I guess you would have to read it to see why it's uncomfortable to know that it's based on someone's experience (if that actually is true). A part of me really wants to believe that there is a God and he/she does work in mysterious ways, all of them being good, but it's hard to grasp. What I loved about it was it totally criticized the things about religion that are man-made and institutionalized. I guess it helped me answer questions of my own about why things turn out the way the do and if there really is a God, why is there so much evil, etc. etc. Anyway, I suggest reading it so you can decide for yourself.

Some great quotes from this book:
"There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules. And unlike illness, it is largely a corporate rather than individual experience. One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging it out within her purview. All those affected this way are unified by a mutual excuse, and the heart is suddenly and unexpectedly a little giddy. There will be no apologies needed for not showing up to some commitment or other. Everyone understands and shares in this singular jurisdiction, and the sudden alleviation of the pressure to produce makes the heart merry."

Some great quotes put into the book, written by others:
"The soul is healed by being with children." - Fyodor Dostoyesky
"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods." - Albert Einstein
"Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"God is a verb." - Buckminister Fuller
"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you." - Frederick Buechner

I am especially fond of you.