Savannah Guthrie Reflects on God’s Mercy: ‘God is Not Transactional’
By Movieguide® Contributor
TODAY show co-host Savannah Guthrie is sharing God’s mercy in her new book, “Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere.”
“You will be delighted to find that God is not transactional,” Guthrie told Annie F. Downs on the “That Sounds Fun” podcast in February, “and I write a lot about mercy and grace and that I think it means the most to me because of all the times that I have messed up and that I have come back and found, you know, God with open arms.”
“I let my mom write a chapter in the book, and she talked about this beautiful story with her grandfather, and that’s right along those lines…I mean, I think God’s mercy is the most bonding aspect of a relationship with God, you know. It’s like that when you mess up and you come back, he loves you. It’s not like, ‘Well, you’ll be on probation now,’ but just, ‘No, I love you.’”
“Mostly what God does is love you,” she explained.
Guthrie wanted to share what she knows and feels about God. She explained in the podcast that the book isn’t something God put on her heart exactly but just something she really wanted to do.
Movieguide® reported on April 19:
When asked why she decided to write a book about her faith, Guthrie explained, “I felt like I had something good to say about God, and I just wanted to say it.”
“So many of us, we ask ourselves, ‘Am I a good person? Have I made bad decisions? Is God the scolding father figure?’ The God that I know, that I think exists, is the one that loves us in spite of all that,” she continued.
Guthrie stressed that she is not “a theologian” or “biblical scholar” but added, “What I learned about God happened mostly when I made mistakes…not being some great success, and certainly no model or example of piety.”
The line, “Mostly what God does is love you,” isn’t something that Guthrie came up with. Theologian and minister Eugene Peterson said it first.
“I read that years and years ago, and I’ve thought [about] it over and over again, and how could I have ever imagined that it would lead to a book?” Guthrie said. “But I just find it to be so profound.”
“We have so many questions about God, and most of them really can’t be answered in this life. But here’s one certainty: if you’re wondering what he’s up to, you’re wondering what he thinks about you, mostly what he does is love you,” she said.
The book has lived on the New York Times Best Sellers list for the last eight weeks. Previously, it sat in the No. 1 spot, and last week, it placed at No. 5.
“Something in the water for 8 weeks – overwhelmed and grateful ?,” Guthrie said on Instagram last week.
Last month, Guthrie learned that bookstores are selling her book.
“A friend sent me this from the airport bookstore! The real live book in the wild!!! I have yet to see it for myself in a bookstore so this is exciting for me ???,” Guthrie captioned a photo of her book sitting next to other best sellers.
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