I recently read the book The Shack by William P. Young. Now I know there has been some controversy and not all Christians hold the same views on it (but really, what else is new?), but I absolutely loved it. I thought it was refreshing in the way it portrayed spirituality and it totally transformed my understanding of God’s love in a way that I don’t feel contradicts anything I’ve read in the Bible. I’m sure there are many opinions about it, but overall, I liked it.
Although I have a million things I could explore from that book, and might explore in this blog eventually, one really stood out to me and is the one I’ll write about tonight. While they’re talking about God’s nature, one of the characters makes a statement about God that blew my mind with its simplicity and its truth. Sarayu, the character representing the Holy Spirit, describes God in this way: “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.”
Stop for a second. Take that in. Doesn’t it rock your world? For some reason, I absolutely love that description. I understand that some aspects of God’s character make Him more noun-like, but I also love this description. I love the idea that God is not static, that our relationship with him isn’t church, religion, rules, prayers, or songs, but rather a series of perpetual verbs. Sarayu continues to say this:
“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 it 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 make the universe alive.”
I don’t even really have anything to say. I have no elaboration, no insight, no wisdom. This just blows my mind. Combined with the rest of the book, which I definitely think you should read, by the way, it makes me want to live and love in a new, transformed, dynamic way.
I love it. I love when books challenge my way of thinking and existing. It’s why I want to be a writer.
Very cool! I love that idea, and it is so true! However, I feel I must say…. You would like a description of God based on parts of speech… You Would. That’s one of the reasons why I like you so much!
lauren i did not know you were reading that! it is on my list of books to read over break! hooray, now i cant wait to read it. love you