Savannah Guthrie has spoken candidly about faith, grief and uncertainty in a deeply personal Easter message, delivered more than two months after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was abducted.
The Today co-anchor appeared in a digital service for Good Shepherd New York on Sunday, April 5, where she opened with a traditional message of hope. A video of her appearance was shared on the Christian place of worship’s YouTube Channel.
“Good morning, everybody. Happy Easter,” she began. “And Easter is happy. It is flowers, and pastels, and baby bunnies. It is sunshine, and joy, and hope. It is rebirth, and second chances, and new life and fresh starts. It is the most important day of the year for all of us who believe. Even more than Christ’s birth, more than his death. His resurrection, his second birth into a permanent life – that is what is most crucial to us.”
She continued: “His revival and resurrection mean the same for us. We celebrate today the promise of a new life that never ends in death.” But the tone quickly shifted, as Savannah acknowledged the weight of her current reality.
© WireImage“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. These moments of deep disappointment with God, the feeling of utter abandonment.”
She added: “For most of us, there will come a time in our life when these feelings hold sway. In our tradition, we are taught to take comfort in the fact that our friend, Jesus, in his short life, experienced every single emotion that we humans can feel. That his taking on the form of humanity made him not a distant observer to our pain, but a hands-on experience of it.”
© Getty ImagesReflecting on her own “season of trial,” she went on: “Recently, though, in my own 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.”
Savannah ultimately ended her message on a note of cautious hope.
© FBI“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 said. “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.”
Nancy was last seen at her Tucson home on January 31, and no suspect has been named in the case. Savannah has previously offered a $1 million reward for information, as the search continues.
The broadcaster is expected to return to her duties on Today on Monday, April 6.
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