Savannah Guthrie has opened up about how she has come to terms with her faith during a period of “total darkness” following her mother’s alleged kidnapping.
In a message shared during Good Shepherd New York’s April 5 digital Easter gathering, the 54-year-old Today show host said he was wondering about the sufferings of Jesus as he experienced the “excruciating pain of not knowing” his mother’s whereabouts.
“Today we celebrate the promise of a new life that will never end in death. But I have to stand here today and say that there are moments when that promise seems irretrievably far away, and life itself can seem far more difficult than death,” Guthrie said. “It’s a moment of deep disappointment with God, a feeling of complete abandonment. For most of us, there will come a time in our lives when these feelings waver.”
The mother of two was raised as a Baptist and has an “interfaith” family with her Jewish husband Michael Feldman.
“During my trial season, I wondered and wondered if Jesus had ever truly experienced this particular wound that I feel, this painful, uniquely cruel wound caused by not knowing, uncertainty and confusion, and the answer was withheld,” Guthrie continued. “In those darkest moments, I bitterly, and perhaps irreverently, wondered if I had encountered emotions that Jesus did not know.”
She confessed that she began to think that Jesus “never experienced this excruciating suffering of not knowing,” and explained that “there is nothing wrong in thinking that way, in questioning our God.”
But when she remembered that the Bible says that while Jesus was being crucified, “Jesus cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'” she realized something. It is the cry of anguish of someone who does not know the answer. ” While wondering how long Jesus was in the tomb and experiencing “that agony of uncertainty, that feeling of infinite pain forever,” she concluded that “after all, Jesus may have known this feeling.”
Guthrie concluded her message by acknowledging, “This may be too dark a message to share on Easter morning, but I have long believed that we cannot fully celebrate the Resurrection without acknowledging the feelings of loss, pain, and death.”
“I still believe,” she said, “that it is because of the darkness that this morning’s light is so magnificent and blindingly beautiful. It is even brighter because it is so desperately needed.”
Guthrie’s mother had not been seen since Saturday, January 31st, and was first reported missing the next day, February 1st. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said they believe Guthrie was taken from her home in suburban Tucson against her will.
Law enforcement agencies have uncovered more details about the suspect in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, analyzing DNA samples collected from Guthrie’s home in the Tucon, Arizona area. More than $1.2 million in rewards are being offered for “any information” leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery.
Savannah Guthrie is set to return to the morning show on Monday, April 6, following an emotional sit-down with former co-host Hoda Kotb that aired on “Today” in late March.
Law enforcement is asking anyone with information about Nancy Guthrie to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Office tips.fbi.gov. (520-351-4900) or 88-CRIME.
