So there I was belly deep in the Spokane River when Paula Marano floated up to me. She and her hubby, Judge Gene Marano, were sunbathing nearby on North Idaho College beach and had noticed the annual baptism conducted by my little church, Hayden Bible. So she introduced herself. And we made small talk about the baptism. And then her daughter, Mary, waded over to us. Mary’s husband, sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger, was sunbathing somewhere on the shore. Next thing you know, Paula, Mary and I were talking about William P. Young’s wildly popular fiction, “The Shack.” We Northwesterners connect in at least two ways to the book. It is set in the Northwest. So places in the book, like Multnomah Falls, Columbia Gorge and Hells Canyon, are familiar. Mack, the main character, has to work his way through his “Great Sadness” at the loss of his daughter Missy at the hands of a serial child killer. Joseph Duncan, the child molester and murderer now facing sentencing for slaughter of the Groene family and Mark McKenzie, comes to mind as you read along. However, Mack’s encounter with God in an unusual trinity at the murder site is the draw for readers, both religious and otherwise. Why am I telling you this? We’re discussing “The Shack” at Huckleberries Online, if you want to join the conversation without getting wet. Twitter fritter
