'The Shack' author to speak at college

William Paul Young, author of the best seller, "The Shack," will speak at Lenoir-Rhyne University's P.E. Monroe Auditorium at 2 p.m. Sunday. The event will also include a book-signing.

With more than 6.1 million copies in print and 49 weeks at No. 1 on the New York Times best seller list, "The Shack" is a man-meets-God novel that Young originally self-published.

The 2007 novel achieved its initial success via word-of-mouth and with the help of a $300 Web site.

Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk, lives in Oregon. He is being brought to Hickory by Mike Dockery, a Hickory entrepreneur and fan of "The Shack."

Following are several questions asked of Young and his responses.

Q: What was your inspiration for the book?
A: I have always been a writer, like anyone is ... poetry, songs, short stories, etc., little gifts that you give away to those you love and respect. Kim, my wife, had been asking me for a few years to "would you please put how you think in one place, as a gift for our children, because you think outside the box." Later, when the book was published, she laughed and told me she had been thinking four to six pages. So I wrote this gift for my children in 2005, trying to get it done by Christmas. The first and only intended run of copies was 15 at Office Depot. My desire was to communicate to my six children (ages 16 to 29) my thoughts about God, pain and evil, suffering, the process of healing, forgiveness etc. I was allowed to ask, inside a story, many of the questions that I was not allowed to ask as a religious kid growing up.

Q: How has the success changed your life, in good and bad ways?
A: I don't have to work three jobs, which is wonderful. None of the things that truly matter have changed, but some of the framings of life have. We bought a home after years of renting, able to help my parents, start a foundation, travel and meet remarkable people and listen to their stories. Sadly, success sometimes brings things out of people that failures never would, but even in that God is still working out purpose. Some of my children have had to pay relational prices because of the book, but none of us would change anything, especially when we see how God has taken this little story and breathed a bridge into existence; one that many are walking across into the embrace of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Q: In your opinion, who is Jesus?
A: Jesus is the member of the Trinity who willingly and because of love put aside all the rights and powers of being God and while never ceasing to be God lived a fully human life, and continues to live such. Everything in this cosmos exists by, for, in and through Jesus. Jesus is the only hope for any single human being, for the created reality, for the whole human race. In Jesus, we have the clearest expression of the nature of God and we are invited into the relationship that he has had for eternity with the Father and Holy Spirit. In exchange the Three come to live in the brokenness of our souls and begin to lovingly heal us from the inside out.

Q: What is one of the funniest questions you have been asked and how did you respond?
A: The question was from the audience in Asheville. "As a lesbian, I am curious as to why you did not have Papa have an affair in the book?" Nervous laughter in the packed church where the community event was taking place. My answer? "Frankly, it never even crossed my mind." Everyone laughed and we moved on.

Q: What criticism, if any, from your adopted brothers and sisters ("the church") has hurt your feelings? What would you like to say to them or wish they understood/believed?
A: I take no credit for the healing, forgiveness and reconciliation that "The Shack" is bringing to our human family. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. I also don't take credit for how this story is shaking up some people and causing them to exhibit bitter anger. That, too, is the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is still healing people on the Sabbath. I love the controversy, though I wish the angry people would actually read the book. But their linguistic violence has opened up the door to many others who would not have bothered to read such a book. How cool is that?