Guthrie offers tips to integrate faith into everyday life in book
Every TV news anchor needs a high level of authority and confidence to succeed, making expressions of self-doubt a rarity. But Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of NBC’S “Today” since 2012, has never been shy about asking for help.
Guthrie, 52, has long relied on prayer to navigate challenges or setbacks in her life, such as the death of her father when she was a teenager and a brief failed marriage in her mid-30s. She admits she turned to faith during her career ascent to the anchor desk at “Today,” which was fraught due to longtime viewers’ anger over the treatment of her predecessor Ann Curry. And she still looks for spiritual guidance to get her through tough assignments.
Years of Bible study and growing up in a household where Guthrie said God was considered a member of the family taught her how to rely on her faith. Her new book that’s already hit No. 1 on bestseller lists, “Mostly What God Does” from W Publishing, is a users’ guide for those curious about how faith can be integrated into their everyday lives.
This interview with Guthrie has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: Why write about God and why now?
A: I’ve never been interested in writing a memoir or telling old news capers. I have a full-time job. I have two little kids. But when I was approached and given the opportunity to write about faith, I couldn’t say no. It’s certainly the core of who I am, but also one of the subjects I find most intellectually stimulating and challenging. Any conversation I have, it usually gets there because it’s just so much of who I am and how I see the world.
Q: Just to be clear to the reader, the book is about faith, not religion. A:
I would say that’s right. I come from a certain background. I grew up in a Baptist church, and it
Turn to Guthrie,
is very much from a Christian perspective. But I’m not a theologian. I’m not a biblical scholar. I’m just a regular person, a person of faith. And so it’s really how to have a relationship with God in the real world, with real questions, and how to connect with God when you sometimes don’t even feel that you can or that it is even available to you.
Q: You reveal a lot of experiences from your life in this book, not all of them happy.
A: You can’t talk about faith in a vacuum. It’s not some antiseptic, esoteric concept that happens at a distance. It happens in real life. And so the things I was wanting to express and convey about what I believed about God and why. Many times I would illustrate them through stories and circumstances that happen in my own life. But I felt it was important to tell a real story. And I think that we find our faith in times of trial, disappointment and setback.
Q: You write about how praying a psalm got you through a blinding, tension-induced migraine headache on your first day as co-host of “Today” in 2012. Do you always have something like that at the ready when heading into a presidential town hall or other high-pressure moments?
A: Every single day, but yes, those high pressure moments and interviewing any president would certainly count — I rely on my faith completely. I don’t know what the exterior looks like, but inside I’m always full of anxiety and worries, and I’m stressed out when I have a big interview. And so my faith is what calms me and grounds me. And it’s what keeps everything in perspective. It doesn’t mean God is going to give me a great interview or something. It helps me remember that I’m not alone, and it gives me a certain peace to know that there’s something greater at work here that has nothing to do with this interview.