Savannah Guthrie is opening up about how she’s grappled with her faith during this period of “utter darkness” following her mother’s suspected kidnapping.
In a message shared during Good Shepherd New York’s April 5 digital Easter gathering, the 54-year-old “Today” show host shared that as she experiences the “excruciating not knowing” of her mother’s whereabouts, she’s questioned Jesus’ suffering.
“We celebrate today the promise of a new life that never ends in death. But standing here today, I have to tell you, there are moments in which that promise seems irretrievably far away, when life itself seems far harder than death,” Guthrie said. “These moments of deep disappointment with God, the feeling of utter abandonment. For most of us, there will come a time in our life when these feelings hold sway.”
The mother of two was raised Baptist and has a “multi-faith” family with husband Michael Feldman, who is Jewish.
“In my season of trial, I have wondered, I have questioned, whether Jesus really ever experienced this particular wound that I feel, this grievous and uniquely cruel injury of not knowing, of uncertainty and confusion and answers withheld,” Guthrie continued. “In those darkest moments, I have thought, bitterly and perhaps irreverently, that I have stumbled upon a feeling that Jesus did not know.”Need a news break?
She confessed that she started thinking that Jesus “never suffered this excruciating not knowing,” and she explained, “It isn’t wrong to think such thoughts, to challenge our God with questions.”
However, she came to a realization as she recalled the Bible described that while Jesus was being crucified, “he cried out, ‘My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?’ That is the anguished cry of someone who does not know the answers.” As she wondered whether Jesus questioned how long he might be in the tomb and if He had experienced “that torment of uncertainty, the way indefinite pain can feel eternal,” she concluded, “Perhaps He did know this feeling after all.”‘I don’t force religion on my kids’:
Guthrie ended her message by admitting, “Perhaps this is too dark a message to share on Easter morning, but I have long believed that we miss out on fully celebrating resurrection if we do not acknowledge the feelings of loss, pain, and yes, death.”
She shared that “I still believe” and described, “It is the darkness that makes this morning’s light so magnificent, so blindingly beautiful. It is all the brighter because it is so desperately needed.”
Guthrie’s mother, who has not been seen since Saturday, Jan. 31, was first reported missing the following day, on Feb. 1. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has said they believe she was taken from her home outside of Tucson against her will.
Law enforcement has shared details about a suspect in their investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance and has analyzed DNA samples collected from Guthrie’s Tucscon, Arizona, area home. A reward totaling more than $1.2 million has been offered “for any information that leads us to” Nancy Guthrie’s recovery.
Following her emotional sit-down with former cohost Hoda Kotb, that aired on “Today” at the end of March, Savannah Guthrie is scheduled to return to the morning show on Monday, April 6.
Law enforcement asks anyone with information about Nancy Guthrie to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department (520-351-4900) or 88-CRIME.
