THE Shack Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity

THE Shack Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity A novel by Wm. Paul Young In collaboration with Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings Newbury Park, California 763PP_tx.indd 1 30/01/2017 10:02 Shack_MMtextF1.indd i 9/20/16 10:47:04 AM The Shack by Wm. Paul Young www.theshackbook.com This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Copyright © 2007 by William P. Young Author’s note copyright © 2016 by William P. Young Cover design by Marisa Ghiglieri, Dave Aldrich, and Bobby Downes Page layout by Dave Aldrich. Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc. Published by Windblown Media, 4680 Calle Norte, Newbury Park, CA 91320 Published in association with Hachette Book Group, Inc. First published in Great Britain in 2008, this edition first published in 2016 by Hodder & Stoughton An Hachette UK company 1 The right of WM Paul Young to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 473 65491 4 eBook ISBN 978 1 848 94012 3 Printed and bound in the UK by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc Hodder & Stoughton policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd Carmelite House 50 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y 0DZ www.hodderfaith.com 763PP_tx.indd 2 30/01/2017 10:02 Contents Author’s Note. .....................................v Foreword. ........................................xv 1. A Confluence of Paths ..........................1 2. The Gathering Dark ...........................12 3. The Tipping Point.............................22 4. The Great Sadness.............................34 5. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. ................62 6. A Piece of π..................................87 7. God on the Dock.............................105 8. A Breakfast of Champions.....................118 9. A Long Time Ago, in a Garden Far, Far Away....133 10. Wade in the Water ...........................146 11. Here Come da Judge. .........................160 12. In the Belly of the Beasts......................182 13. A Meeting of Hearts. .........................198 14. Verbs and Other Freedoms....................210 15. A Festival of Friends..........................227 16. A Morning of Sorrows........................238 17. Choices of the Heart. .........................253 18. Outbound Ripples. ...........................262 After Words .....................................273 Acknowledgments................................276 763PP_tx.indd 3 30/01/2017 10:02 Shack_MMtextF1.indd iii 9/20/16 10:47:04 AM This story was written for my children: Chad— the Gentle Deep Nicholas— the Tender Explorer Andrew— the Kindhearted Affection Amy— the Joyful Knower Alexandra (Lexi)— the Shining Power Matthew— the Becoming Wonder And dedicated first, to: Kim, my Beloved, thank you for saving my life; and second, to: “. All us stumblers who believe Love rules. Stand up and let it shine.” 763PP_tx.indd 4 30/01/2017 10:02 Shack_MMtextF1.indd iv 9/20/16 10:47:04 AM Author’s Note It has been almost a decade since 11,000 copies of The Shack were drop-shipped to a home in California from a local printer. What began with fifteen copies printed at Office Depot, a Christmas gift for our six children, became an unanticipated phenomenon that caught everyone by surprise. Three men together, Wayne Jacobsen, Brad Cum- mings, and Bobby Downes, wanted to see this story eventually come to life on the big screen, and it seemed prudent to first get it into print. After the early complete draft was ignored or turned down by twenty-six publishers, Wayne and Brad decided to establish their own pub- lishing house, Windblown Media, with one initial title, The Shack. They each contributed a third of the original cost for the first print run and a friend of mine loaned me the rest. I never intended on becoming a published author. I chalk up all this to God’s kind sense of humor. My per- sonal vision was to pay bills and help feed and clothe my family, and I was holding down three jobs simulta- neously to do that. Some of the work was hard physical labor and other work was Internet-based, and while all of the jobs were low-paying, they provided “enough” to pay our rent and buy the basic necessities. We were con- tent, something money can never purchase. 763PP_tx.indd 5 30/01/2017 10:02 Shack_MMtextF1.indd v 9/20/16 10:47:04 AM vi • Author’s note Wayne and Brad found a printer local to them, and in May 2007 the first copies were delivered to Brad’s garage. He had volunteered to do most of the “heavy lifting,” shipping out books at night as his days were filled with installing sprinkler systems into people’s yards. Wayne, an author himself, in the flow of his own speaking and writing schedule, helped me better craft the story line during the two years of editing and rewriting. What happened next, none of us anticipated. I certainly didn’t. The goal was this: Windblown Media would sell the first shipment over the course of two years, working up to 100,000 copies over five years, at which point the three men anticipated that Hollywood would come knocking at their door regarding a movie. It is largely true that ignorance is bliss. In retrospect, and after a steep learning curve, I now understand that our goal was naïve and incredibly optimistic—hardly realistic. I did not know at that time that the average successful book sells only around 3,000 copies during its entire existence and a novel with sales of 7,500 is a bestseller. We had 11,000 copies sitting in a garage with a website but no real promotion or marketing. No matter. I was busy lifting sixty-pound buckets of turkey stuffing into hoppers at a food processing plant, shipping out soldering tips and cleaning toilets for a cir- cuit board manufacturer’s rep warehouse, and acting like a glorified disk jockey on the Internet assisting com- panies with their web conferencing. Then things got wild and crazy. What was supposed to take two years happened in three and a half months. People would find the website and order a book. A few weeks later, they would return and order multiple copies or even cases. And I started getting emails from readers 763PP_tx.indd 6 30/01/2017 10:02 Shack_MMtextF1.indd vi 9/20/16 10:47:04 AM Author’s note • vii all over the world, messages that were wrenching and wonderful, beautiful and painful, telling me how this little book had intersected their lives at “just the right time.” They would tell me moving and stunning stories of the transformational impact of the questions and con- versation contained in The Shack. Publishers, even some of those who had turned us down, and booksellers began contacting Brad and Wayne wanting to help in marketing, sales, and distri- bution. The term “wildfire” started showing up—an unanticipated anomaly that sets the landscape ablaze. In the first thirteen months, May 2007 through June 2008, Windblown Media spent less than $300 in marketing and advertising and shipped almost 1.1 million copies of The Shack. In June 2008, The Shack debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at #1, where it remained for 49 weeks in a row. That should make you laugh. It certainly is no indi- cation of our brilliance or acumen. This was a “God- thing.” It was a combination of the mysteries of timing and our participation that cannot be replicated and would likely frustrate anyone who tried. In the last years, The Shack has been translated into 50 languages and has sold at least 19 million copies world- wide, placing it (unofficially) in the top 100 fiction best- sellers of all time. And now it’s a movie! But it is the stories that have emerged around The Shack, Cross Roads, and now EVE that have so deeply touched me. Every human being is a story, and when we share the stories of our lives we are talking about Holy Ground, where the dust of creation meets with fire that refines, the activity of God in the wonder of our human- ity. I think that is why we are born barefooted, because 763PP_tx.indd 7 30/01/2017 10:02 Shack_MMtextF1.indd vii 9/20/16 10:47:04 AM viii • Author’s note we are designed to walk on Holy Ground. Let me tell you just one story among the thousands I have been sent or told. Most of The Shack movie was shot in southern Brit- ish Columbia, the most western of Canadian provinces and home to my immediate family. Lionsgate, Gil Net- ter (the producer), and Stuart Hazeldine (the director) graciously invited me on two different occasions to spend a day on the set. The first time was on the very first day of filming, and I was asked if I would come and pray a blessing over the cast and crew.

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