The Shack: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Mack decides to take a canoe out on the lake. Feeling better than he has in a long time, Mack feels free to sing, look at the beautiful scene around him, and even to cry as he thinks about the troubles of his daughter, Katie. Suddenly, he sees that Sarayu is sitting in the canoe with him. She says that dinner is soon and it’s time to return to the cabin. Sarayu reminds Mack that she’s always with him. Even when he returns home, he will be able to sense her thoughts in his.

Mack says that Papa has helped him realize he’s afraid of emotions, something that concerns him. He says he is afraid of bad emotions. But Sarayu says that emotions are neither good nor bad, but provide the color of the soul, while The Great Sadness was a lack of emotion that made life seem flat and gray. Sarayu says that emotions are fed by perceptions, which in turn are shaped by paradigms or beliefs. In order to understand and trust his emotions, Mack must also interrogate his deepest beliefs.

Mack says that living in this way feels more complicated than simply following the rules in scripture. Laughing, Sarayu asks if those rules ever helped Mack in the past, and he admits that they mostly made him feel guilty. Sarayu says that relationships, not rules, are the only way to get at the deeper questions of life. Those who think they have all the answers simply because they know and follow scripture are likely fooling themselves.

Mack joins Sarayu, Jesus, and Papa at the table, where they openly talk and laugh with each other. He finds their warmth and friendship inspiring, and imagines trying to bring that demeanor to his own relationships. For a moment, overwhelmed by the reality of the situation, he closes his eyes, wondering if it’s all a dream. But when he opens them, the three are still there, smiling at them.

Mack asks what the three of them expect of him now that they have given him the gift of such a lovely weekend. Unexpectedly, they freeze and seem upset.

Sarayu begins to explain that because of Jesus’s death, humans are no longer bound by the Commandments, but they still behave as if they are. The enforcement of rules is just a way for humans to make themselves feel independent and in control, and, worse, to judge one another. Sarayu warns that expectations and responsibilities are simply other forms of rules, which remove freedom and create guilt and shame instead. Papa has no expectations for Mack, but simply knows him.

The three return to the idea of hierarchy, saying they don’t want to be a first priority in Mack’s life, but rather at the center of everything. As they begin clearing the table, Sarayu asks if she can touch Mack’s eyes and heal them. She says she wants him to be able to see what they see, just temporarily. Her touch on his eyelids is unexpectedly cool and exhilarating.