Entertainment : "The Shack" comes to the Palace

The inspirational story of a man's relationship with God is explored in the new film, The Shack. Playing the Palace April 14 through Thursday, April 20 at 7 pm every evening, and Monday, April 17 at 2 pm, The Shack is based on the best-selling novel released in 2007, which spent a solid 49 weeks in the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller's List. The author, W.P. Young, wrote the book as a gift to his family and close friends. Eventually the story spread via word of mouth, and Young was encouraged to get his manuscript published. The main character of our story is Mack (Sam Worthington), a husband and dad of five living in the Pacific Northwest. When Mack takes three of his kids camping, a canoeing accident distracts him from his youngest daughter, Missy, who disappears. She is assumed dead, and Mack's relationship with God takes a huge blow. How could He let this happen? Later on, Mack receives a letter asking him to meet at the cabin where Missy's blood was found. It was signed, "Papa." Since Mack has no contact with this biological father, who abused him at a young age, he knows it can't be from him. His wife always refers to God as "Papa"... could it be a message from God himself? Mack goes, and there he meets three strangers, embodying the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Throughout conversations with each character, hard questions are asked, and Mack learns more about God and himself. He has different experiences with each, and they teach him to understand, heal, and forgive. The Shack has received a lot of attention, both positive and negative. With millions of readers and even more viewers, there are many opinions. Most positive opinions include those that say the story changed their life and gave them a more personal understanding of God. Negative opinions included those that saw the depiction of the Trinity as heresy and claimed that the story watered down scripture. The Shack is rated PG-13 for depictions of a parent abusing a child, a child disappearance that eventually becomes known as a murder, and brief violent acts seen in flashback form.