Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere

Guthrie describes a morning interaction with her eight-year-old daughter, Vale, who feels she can sense the earth moving, illustrating a child’s unique perspective and sense of wonder. This moment transitions into a contemplation about gaining a heavenly perspective. Guthrie discusses how peoples’ default gaze is earthward and inward, focusing on immediate needs, wants, and worries. She contrasts this with the need to look upward and outward, toward God and the eternal, to gain true perspective and peace.

Guthrie shares her own struggles with anxiety and dark thoughts, highlighting how these feelings can dominate unless countered by a divine perspective. She recalls a significant moment of anxiety before hosting The Today Show for the first time, where Psalm 121:1-2 provided her with comfort and strength, reminding her to look to God for help.

The chapter emphasizes the importance of shifting focus from immediate, earthly concerns to a broader, divine view. Guthrie underscores this with the hymn “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus,” illustrating how looking towards God can make worldly concerns diminish in importance. This shift in perspective, she argues, can alter emotional and spiritual states, offering comfort and clarity even in times of distress.

Guthrie reflects on her longstanding tradition of journaling, which began with her mother’s annual gift of a Christian journal called Journeying Through the Days. These journals became a spiritual diary for Guthrie, filled with raw, honest prayers and reflections. Initially, Guthrie’s journaling was an attempt to walk with God through adulthood, pouring out her heart and struggles. Her entries were marked by deep self-centeredness, guilt, and a persistent fear of God’s plans for her. Over time, however, she stopped journaling as her life became busier, particularly during challenging personal times, effectively “unsubscribing” from herself.

Years later, Guthrie revisited her old journals, confronting the angst, fear, and guilt she had felt. This reflection helped her realize that her mistrust of God stemmed from fear of calamity, but she learned to trust God through the very hardships she feared. These experiences taught her that God’s presence and support are constant, even in difficult times.

Guthrie compares God’s long-term planning to a chess master’s strategy, emphasizing that God’s ultimate goal is to bring people closer to Him. She concludes that despite her past fears, God’s love is unwavering and unconditional, providing comfort and reassurance.

Guthrie discusses the paradoxical nature of faith, suggesting it is both clarity and mystery, offering answers and questions, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, divinity and humanity all at once. Guthrie uses the metaphor of a circle to describe faith, where God, belief, blessing, and joy are interconnected in a harmonious revolution that benefits the soul. She emphasizes that faith must come before seeing, referencing the biblical story of Bartimaeus, a blind man healed by Jesus because of his faith.

She discusses how faith requires a leap beyond what is safe and known, leading to new understanding and spiritual insight. Guthrie highlights that true joy in faith comes from encountering beauty in the world, recognizing it as a sign of the Creator, and experiencing both emotional and intellectual satisfaction.

Guthrie recounts how spiritual joy is not just fleeting euphoria but an abiding sense of understanding and connection with God. She shares personal stories, including how supportive friendships enriched by shared faith have brought her joy.

The chapter also delves into the concept of blessings, contrasting modern casual uses of the term with its biblical meaning. Guthrie explains that asking for blessings means seeking God’s presence and favor, which brings more of Him into one’s life, especially in times of need. She concludes by reinforcing that believing is inherently beautiful because it brings more of God into individual’s lives, resulting in joy and completing the circle of faith and blessing.