Pastor Jeff's thoughts: Of all the chapters to date, this is the most moving. It brought me to tears more than once and as I ponder why, I think it is because of the beauty in which the love of God is expressed. Young has caught the essence of what I believe at the core. But some questions remain.
The chapter opens where the last chapter left off – namely, Mack continues down the path Jesus asked him to walk. Mack enters into a cave, travels along a tunnel and comes to a cavern where the floor is so polished his reflection shines forth. Inside this cavernous room is a woman of great beauty sitting in an imposing chair behind an ebony desk.
As the chapter unfolds, Mack is told that he is there for judgment and immediately believes that it is he who is to be judged. When the woman turns the tables and has Mack sit in the imposing chair behind the desk and tells him to assume the role of being the judge, one might begin to suspect what later we are directly told – namely, it is God and humanity whom Mack will judge. He doesn’t want to, doesn’t feel qualified, tries to avoid the responsibility. But as the conversation unfolds, Mack admits that the man who tortured and killed Missy and the God who allowed it, are both deserving of judgment.
The woman then asks Mack to select three of his children that he would send to hell, condemning them to eternal punishment. Mack, already having admitted that judgment is justified, had never pondered how one’s acceptance of judgment might impact those he loves. Indeed, the woman’s logic on this point is rather tight. On page 172, she presents Mack with a well conceived argument which moves from proclaiming the perpetrator of the crime to be guilty to realizing that others may have been responsible for the perpetrator’s knurled soul to entertaining that others in the distant past may have been responsible for getting this sordid mess going to God who allowed all of it in the first place. In the end, such thinking takes Mack to where the central issue has been all along – namely, his blaming God for Missy’s misery. Yet this same line of reasoning can be applied to us all. For although our sins may not be as monumental as the perpetrator, guilt remains. Thus Mack’s children are caught up in his cycle of judgment and the woman’s request to select three of those children for eternal punishment is justified.
Well, to make a long story short, Mack finds the command to damn three of his children impossible. He refuses. Instead, he seeks to make a bargain. He will take their place. He will gladly suffer the punishment in their place. At last, he begins to think and act like Jesus.
At this point, he seems to have crossed the Rubicon. He is well on his way to letting go of his judgment of God and beginning to learn to live in the light of God’s love. Whether as a reward for this transformation or as a result, he finds himself looking at Missy playing joyfully with her siblings. It is a touching scene and while she cannot see or hear her father, she is aware of his presence. The chapter ends with Mack and Jesus being reunited at the shore of the lake.
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS:
Ø Why was Mack able to let go of his judgment of God?
Ø Judgment seems so integral to justice that without it, justice lacks meaning. Do you agree or disagree?
Ø Did this chapter help you understand the gift given to us by Jesus?
Ø Who do you think the woman is?
02-28-12 Ruth wrote: Jeff asks who is the woman...I did not think about that while reading, but now the question has been asked, I am pondering. I have no idea who Young intended her to be...what are others peoples thoughts?
