God As A Big Black Woman?

My sister-in-law gave me a copy of this book. When I began reading it, I was really into the story UNTIL (watch out spoiler alert) God was portrayed as a big black woman. I couldn't get past it for a day or two but as I continued to get into the story, that no longer seemed to matter. The book was extremely profound and very well written. The author never intended the book to be published. He wrote it for his children to try to explain why bad things happen to those who love the Lord. At some point in their lives, a very "bad" thing happened to him and his family. I do not know what it was. In the book, it is the murder of his 6-year old child. Whether or not this is the REAL event is irrelevant. He uses the book to explain the Trinity and the wonderment of the relationship between the three. Will you understand the Trinity after reading the book? No. Is his representation intended to be factual? No. But it did impact my life in a HUGE way. And the PRINCIPLES in the book are very much reflected in the Bible. In fact, there were MANY places where I had to go back and re-read what "God" was saying. It made me feel good and this non-fiction fictional tale left me wanting to be better. Made me want people to see Christ IN me and THROUGH me in a way that NO SERMON ever has. After reading the book, I did some research on it and found that many religious "experts" (what is that by the way?) profane the book for all sorts of "personal" reasons one of which is that God is portrayed as female. But, He is referred to as Papa, which is male the last time I checked. The book is ripe with symbolism and I believe that most "critics" don't understand what an allegory is. Of course they are only EXPERTS in that which offends them. TYPICAL RELIGION. This author is writing out of pain and suffering and a desire to understand God and how He could stand by while bad things happen to his children. Another thing to keep in mind is...he never intended for anyone but his children to read it. And when it just took off he had no control over the impact it had anymore than I believe he had over the story that his heart and perhaps the Lord told him to write. It is a good read. It has Biblical truths in it and gives the reader a sense of peace about that which we cannot comprehend. I am glad that I read it and yeah, God as a big black woman was hard to get past.........AT FIRST. But as I read the WORDS, the author's vehicle for presenting them no longer seemed important. So, this blog is part of my contribution to "The Missy Project". To find out what that is, you will have to read the book. I could pass the book along which is also part of the project, like my sister-in-law did, but I plan on keeping it and re-reading the parts that changed me. Especially with school fast approaching and life seeming so unfair at times. I plan on spending a few days of my own at THE SHACK.