Monday, April 8, 2024

Book Review: Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie

 About the Book:



#1 New York Times Bestseller


Mostly what God does is love you.

If we could believe this, really believe this, how different would we be? How different would our lives be? How different would our world be?

If you ever struggle with your connection to God (or whether you even feel connected to a faith at all!), you're not alone. Especially in our modern world, with its relentless, never-ending news cycle, we can all grapple with such questions. Do we do that alone, with despair and resignation? Or do we make sense of it with God, and with hope? In these uncertain times, could believing in the power of divine love make the most sense?

In this collection of essays, Savannah Guthrie shares why she believes it does. Unspooling personal stories from her own joys and sorrows as a daughter, mother, wife, friend, and professional journalist, the award-winning TODAY show coanchor and New York Times bestselling author explores the place of faith in everyday life.

Sharing hard-won wisdom forged from mountaintop triumphs, crushing failures, and even the mundane moments of day-to-day living, Mostly What God Does reveals the transformative ways that belief in God helps us discover real hope for this life and beyond.

A perfect companion to your morning cup of coffee, this incisive volume—not a memoir but a beautiful tapestry of reflections crafted as a spiritual manual—includes:
  • a fresh, biblically rooted look at six essentials of faith: love, presence, grace, hope, gratitude, and purpose;
  • an honest exploration of questions, doubts, and fears about the love of God;
  • a dose of encouragement for the faith-full, the faith-curious, and the faith-less; and
  • …and much more.
This deeply personal collection is designed to engage the practical ways that God loves you—not just the world, but you—and to inspire you to venture down a path of faith that is authentic, hopeful, destiny-shaping, and ultimately life-changing.

Guthrie persuasively renders the evolution of a hard-won religious belief that makes room for imperfection and "does not require us to ignore... the sorrows we experience or the unjustness we see but to believe past it." This openhearted offering inspires. - Publishers Weekly


My Thoughts:

I admit that I picked up Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie because I recognized the author’s name. Right away, Guthrie correctly informs the reader that this book is not a memoir (though she shares some life experiences). The subtitle aptly describes the book: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His [God’s] Love Everywhere. It’s not a memoir. It’s not a typical devotional. It is thirty-one honest reflections written in a conversational manner.

In Mostly What God Does, Guthrie divides the book’s content into sections: love, presence, praise, grace, hope, and purpose. The positives of Christian faith (love, grace, heaven, community) are present, but the hard topics also appear. (Why does a good God allow suffering and evil? Is our view of God incorrect?) Guthrie admits to not understanding everything, which I appreciate because I can relate. However, she takes what she believes and exhorts readers to authentically practice the tenets of traditional Christian faith.

I liked the entry lengths in Mostly What God Does. At 3-5 pages long, the entries are substantially more than a single-page daily devotional, but less than a full chapter within a Christian living book. For me, this was an ideal length. Two entries that stood out to me were: Chapter 7: God’s Telephone Number and Chapter 20: He Reclined.

I found Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere by Savannah Guthrie to be thoughtful and interesting. The book holds reminders of spiritual truths to uplift the reader while also encouraging the reader to intentionally practice his or her beliefs.

 


Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the author or publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.


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