CHARLOTTE, N.C. — "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie is preparing to release a new book that takes readers behind the scenes with Guthrie as she covers some of the most difficult stories of her career.
"Mostly What God Does" gives us a look at Guthrie's faith and how it helped her get through some of the toughest stories she's covered. Guthrie recently joined WCNC Charlotte's Sarah French to discuss the project and how it all came to be.
Sarah: Tell us about your new book. And what inspired you to write this?
Savannah: Oh my gosh. I can't believe this is all happening. I'm kind of the last person I thought would ever write a book like this. But about a year ago, I was approached about if I would ever want to write a book about my faith, and honestly, I was terrified to do it. But then I couldn't say no. And so this is just a book that's a series of reflections and essays, short bite-sized thoughts about faith. And, you know, the message is pretty simple. It's called "Mostly What God Does," and the rest of the sentence is "Mostly what God does is love you." And it's personal because I am writing, certainly not as a theologian or biblical scholar, or any kind of expert or even somebody, I would wouldn't be holding up my life as an example for anyone to follow. I'm just a person that has been loved by God and saved by God many, many times. And I just share some of those reflections what I've learned along the way.
Sarah: How did you come up with this name?
Savannah: I wish I had written that all by myself, but I hadn't. It actually comes from the Bible, it comes from a translation of the Bible called The Message. And it's a verse from Ephesians. And this translation called The Message, a scholar did it and it's kind of an everyday language translation of the Bible. And the verse is, "Watch what God does, and you do it too. Mostly what God does is love you. When I read that, years and years ago, it transformed the way I thought. I think when you grow up with faith, a lot of times you might imagine that God is disappointed with you, or you wonder what God thinks of you or your choices, or maybe you're mad at God about things that haven't gone well in your life. And for me, this just hit me so hard. You know, have I messed up in my life? Should I forgive this person? Do I deserve forgiveness? Should I take this road or that road? The answer is simple. Mostly what God does is love you. And so that's the beginning. That's the jumping off point from the book. It's really a love letter to God, but it's a love letter about how much he loves us and how transformative that is from within, if you can really absorb it.
Sarah: How has it been for you, as someone in the news, in the public eye talking about your faith and really leaning into that?
Savannah: I've been so nervous about it. So, we'll see how it's received. But I have to say that even though I've been scared, because it's personal, you can't write something like this from a distance. You have to talk about your own experiences. And so there's a lot that's very personal in the book. And that's just scary to do, no matter what the subject is. But I've been so touched and moved, because I think so many people have been kind and saying, 'I'm glad you did this, and I want to hear this. This is a message that I believe or I want to believe." And that means so much to me.
Savannah's book "Mostly What God Does" was released on Tuesday.
Contact Sarah French at Sarah@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.