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Savannah Guthrie Opens Up About Faith and Family

March 13, 2024 / 23:38

This episode features Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of the Today Show and author of "Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere." The discussion covers her personal faith journey, the motivations behind her book, and the challenges of discussing religion publicly.

Guthrie shares that her faith has always been important to her, but writing about it publicly was a surprising step. She reflects on the vulnerability of sharing personal beliefs and how her upbringing influenced her views on God.

Key topics include the loss of her father, her experiences with marriage and parenthood, and how these relate to her understanding of God’s love. Guthrie emphasizes that faith is a personal journey filled with doubt and exploration.

Scott and Cara engage with Guthrie about the complexities of faith in modern society, including the role of religion in community and the potential for it to be misused. They discuss the importance of having open conversations about faith, regardless of differing beliefs.

The episode concludes with Guthrie addressing the challenges of interfaith relationships and the importance of maintaining integrity in one's beliefs while fostering understanding.

TL;DR

Savannah Guthrie discusses her faith journey and the themes of her book on God’s love, vulnerability, and the complexities of modern religion.

Video

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Savannah Guthrie is the co-anchor of the
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Today's Show and NBC news's Chief legal
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correspondent she's also the author of
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mostly what God does Reflections on
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seeking and finding his love everywhere
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I want to be clear this is the real
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Savannah Guthrie we're talking to not
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the AI or deep fake Savannah Guthrie
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we'll talk about that in a minute but I
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first want to talk about the impetus for
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the book because when you told me about
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it um we text from time to time you said
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you're this not what you think it's
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going to be and you were almost
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apologetic it was interesting um and
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that this would surprise people who know
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you as Savannah gothy journalist
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interviewer you do tough interviews uh
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you're on the Today's Show you're very
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well known talk you're talking about
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your faith here tell talk to me about
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what the impetus was because I was
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surprised actually I had no idea I know
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I was surprised too and I mean almost
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apologetic is just my zone you know
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that's where I live that's where that's
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the the emotional space I in habit for
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um most of my day but you know honestly
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I my faith has been important to me
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always has been and all my close friends
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and my colleagues everyone knows that so
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I don't mean that they would be
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surprised but more that I was surprised
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that it was something I wanted to write
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about or put out there publicly not
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because I was ashamed but because it's
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so it's so personal it's so vulnerable I
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mean if you're going to write a book
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about faith and it is in any way
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authentic then you're more or less
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putting your heart out there and in this
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world which I don't have to remind you
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that's really terrifying and so for me
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to put it out there like that um I'm
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certainly not holding myself up as any
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kind of model of behavior or anything
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I'm not any kind of Theologian or
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biblical scholar it's just Reflections
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from a a real person a real life more
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learning more from disappointments and
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setbacks at any time sure so one of the
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things though is let's leave aside the
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performative people who talk about
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religion who do it for some other reason
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um you were a quiet faithful person as
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me as most people are you know what I
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mean that people they don't do you think
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people are scared not scared and asham
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to talk about it but you because it's so
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personal that's why you didn't want to
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you don't talk about
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it or publicly I guess yeah well I mean
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first of all everyone knows yeah
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publicly I mean I have talked about it
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you know from time to time which is how
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this opportunity to write about it came
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to me you know I've certainly never run
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from it but you know I think people are
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quiet about their faith because for one
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thing AR isn't the Mantra you're not
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supposed to talk about religion politics
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Happ one of those has to
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hold yes it doesn't it doesn't but also
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because you know this isn't I'm not out
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here trying to proti or persuade I'm I
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the the truth of the matter is I never
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thought I would write a book about God I
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I never thought I'd write any book and I
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and I didn't want to really I was happy
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to just have this be something personal
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to me but when the opportunity came up I
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found myself not able to say the
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immediate no I've said to every other
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offer of any kind of writing whatsoever
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and the reason was was because it seemed
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intriguing it seemed challenging it
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seems terrifying and it's the subject
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I'm most passionate and interested in
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and I'm always telling you know
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especially young producers or interns or
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people that have ever asked me for
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advice I always say you know get out of
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your comfort zone anything interesting
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you do in your life will be outside your
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comfort zone it's on the other side of a
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big risk that you take and it had been a
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while since I had taken my own advice
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and so I thought I'm going to try a lot
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about um some deep by the way it's a
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bestseller so it's doing people are
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responding to it um in the book you
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write about some deeply personal topics
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including the loss of your father who
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died when you were teenagers you also
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talk about your husband and your kids
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and how you see both marriage and
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Parenthood as metaphors for
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relationships with god um talk a little
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bit about this why you wrote it the way
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you
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did well the big Revelation is mostly
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what God does that's the title of the
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book and the rest of the sentence is
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mostly what God does is love you and I
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grew up in the church I had a
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traditional kind of Baptist upbringing
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and there's a lot about that that I
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still love and treasure but there was
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also a lot of guilt and shame and rules
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and of sense for me of always failing
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never Measuring Up and always kind of
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wondering what this looming God figure
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might have thought of me and through a
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life of again more mistakes than
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anything else what I came to realize is
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that mostly what God is doing at any
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given time is loving us it comes
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actually from scripture it comes from a
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verse in Ephesians that was retranslated
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by a scholar named Eugene Peterson and
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this the verse goes watch what God does
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and you do it too the way children learn
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proper behavior from their parents
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mostly what God does is love you when I
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read that sentence years and years ago
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it was a radical reframing of how I
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thought about God rather than this angry
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Taskmaster scolding or being
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disappointed or you know having a bill
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of particulars of all the ways we and
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all of humanity fails
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mostly what God is doing is loving you
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that's true for me it's true for you
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it's even true for Scott who's very
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silent talk a minute comes in with the
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big I'm I'm I'm teasing but the thing is
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is that I I wrote about it in the in the
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terms of Parenthood because that was
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another moment where when I had kids I
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was in my 40s I was so lucky to get to
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have kids at that late date long after I
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thought I had screwed up everything and
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would never have my chance and to have a
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child is truly the most I think the
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closest we'll ever get to understanding
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how God relates to us you know we love
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our kids we're Amazed by our kids we
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Delight in our kids we relish their
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little accomplishments we Delight in
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their milestones we not only love them
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we often like them we adore them well
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that's how God feels about every human
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being and I'm not making this up there's
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other versions this is the very metaphor
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there are other versions of it Scott why
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don't you come in here by the way you
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know uh uh God is dog spelled backwards
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so dog there you go Savannah it's really
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nice to meet you um hi Scott first off
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congratulations on your success I think
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this is a brave book for someone in your
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position to write because you're just
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subjecting yourself to a lot of scrutiny
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and your vulnerability and and I can see
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why it's a bestseller so acknowledging
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that I I love what you've written I love
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what David Brooks has written about the
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importance of community and how much
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comfort religion gives people and
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there's definitely a a hole in American
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society where people are having trouble
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Bing each other and the agency of
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something bigger than them and religion
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plays an incredibly important role and
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as a devout atheist I also want to
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acknowledge that I think we would
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probably benefit from an upsurge in
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religious institutions in America having
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said that I Warrior what would you do to
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provide Comfort to people when you say
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mostly what God does what I see mostly
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God being used for quite frankly right
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now is often times good people do good
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things bad people do bad things when
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good people do horrendous things usually
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God is at the center or some form of
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their vision of God and what I see in
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America is the religion and legislation
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that the line is being blurred and being
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used for quite frankly incredible
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misogyny incredible discrimination so
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what would you do to provide Comfort to
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people that recognize the importance
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that church plays but see increasingly
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that that God is being if you will
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weaponized well I understand those those
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sentiments you know I live in the real
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world too and you know I write a lot
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about doubt in the book and the doubt
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isn't does God
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exist the doubt The Crucible of of Doubt
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for any deeply thinking faithful person
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is where is God you know does why would
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why would a good God allow unmerited
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suffering yeah you for what you're
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talking about you say this in one
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chapter you write waking each morning to
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an overnight news summary which often
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has a headline after headline of bad
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news you wrote it feels like uh it feels
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like uh taking 20 punches to the gut in
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Rapid succession
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yeah and I mean I I hear and understand
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exactly what Scott is laying out I mean
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again I live in this world too I I would
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only say that what you're describing has
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more to do with humans than it does to
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do with God and I understand but I I I
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would say try to get back to the source
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material Go Back to Basics you know look
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for God for yourself look Within I mean
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looking out in the world whether I mean
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frankly Any Human Institution and every
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human even our most treasured and most
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devout or most faithful or most moral
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humans we have they're still human and
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this is in my faith view this is not the
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world that God intended we live in a
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broken world and um there's just no
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getting around that and P.S I don't have
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the answers to that in this little
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yellow book I don't the only thing I say
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is that I believe that God yearns to
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engage with us even on our doubts even
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with our doubts in fact I think that's I
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think that's part of faith I think doubt
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is kind of Faith being worked out um
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it's not an exception to Faith it's it's
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an aspect of Faith indifference and
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apathy now that might get you a little
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more to opposite of Faith so I
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understand all those doubts and I don't
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try to run from them I try to explain
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how I have dealt with them either
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personally with my own set or the world
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that I see that breaks my heart every
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single day what what what do you say to
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he just said he's a devout atheist right
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Scotch just said I happen to be more of
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an agnostic because I don't know and I
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you're closeted atheist but anyway no
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I'm not no I'm not because I've been
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literally walking by Churches recently
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and thinking I'd like to go in agre I
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don't know why I don't know I don't and
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I don't go in by the way um May sorry I
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don't mean to answer for you go ahead
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okay I don't I don't know I don't no no
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it's something else I don't know what it
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is it's not I don't want to see more
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people Scott that's something I want to
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do the opposite of um but what um it's
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true sanah um what who are you writing
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for are you writing to reach those
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people or what's what were what's the
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goal here for you I mean the book is not
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for any particular person I really mean
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that it is not in any way prati if it's
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persuasive that's not what it's intended
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to do it's it's a description of a
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relationship with God and I hope that
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it's ultimately appealing because I
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think God is quite compelling so I I
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write about um there's a chapter called
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the fragrance of the Gospel right which
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is a line from scripture but I say you
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know the idea is it's a fragrance right
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it's not a stench it's not an odor it's
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not the person next to you wearing too
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much perfume it's it's a fragrance I I
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hope that a life that is lived with
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recognition that God loves every human
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heart yourself and every human you see
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on the street I hope that life carries a
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fragrance that is appealing and
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compelling but no I'm not trying to
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write to any particular person I'm
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trying to write to every particular
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person who cares to pick up this book
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and in a lot of ways I'm writing to
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myself because this encouragement is
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something I need all the time I mean I
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still need to be reminded that God loves
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me that even more radically that God
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could like me yeah I mean this is if you
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could let that in if you could re let it
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in even for a moment it's pretty
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transformative but it's not the kind of
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thing that you learn once and then it's
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stands for all time it's like when you
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get married you don't say I love you
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sweetie and then in 30 years you're like
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remember I told you on her wedding day
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no you are in it every single day and
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you have to continue to seek that
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connection and that's how I think about
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faith as well Scott by the way I love
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you Scott sorry go I love you too Cara
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thank you for saying that uh uh so I'm
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asking this question should I leave no
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no okay so I'm asking this question
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generally for an answer not as a comment
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um what advice I know you have kids I
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have 13 and 16y old boys and I genuinely
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struggle with the role that I should
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play in in determining what the role
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religion should play in their life as
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someone who believes at some point I'll
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look into their eyes and I believe our
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relationship will come to an end when I
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die I also recognize as someone who
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spent a lot of time in temples and
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churches that there is something
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wonderful for kids about being involved
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uh in a religious institution but I
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struggle with how to incorporate it in a
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thoughtful
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way um anyways what advice would you
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have for someone who you know buys into
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the institutions not necessarily the
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lineage and see some of some of the
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danger and quite frankly if I woke up
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one day and my kid was super religious I
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got to be honest with you Savannah would
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be
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heartbroken and but at the same time I
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realize the value it can play in their
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lives and I want to incorporate it in a
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thoughtful way what advice would you
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have uh uh for for parents that feel the
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same way yeah well I mean I'm definitely
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with with you asked me but I definitely
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do not present myself who as somebody
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who could give any kind of advice on
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parenting as I'm just struggling along
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blindly myself but I'll tell you what I
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do I'm my husband is Jewish we have an
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Interfaith household what I have decided
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and this is a little different because I
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do carry a deep Faith within me so what
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I try to do is share that with my kids
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and yes to a certain extent you know
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you're talking about religious
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institutions I have I I I go to church
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I've always belonged to a religious
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institution but to me I don't let the
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religious institutions um I don't like
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them I don't let them ruin God for me
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you know I try to know God for myself
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know Jesus for himself through
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scriptures through prayer through
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personal interaction and of our
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religious institutions which are
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imperfect as all humans are I I try to
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take with Grace the best that they have
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to offer and and and then have Grace
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with their failings but what I try to do
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is teach my kids about the God that I
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know and not just in a way of dragging
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them to church although I do I my sister
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says in our growing up she said God was
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the sixth member of our family and what
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she meant by that was we were always
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kind of in conversation with god or
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about God you know and when my kids have
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a problem I might introduce God into the
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topic now this is easier for me because
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I believe in God and you don't but I
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think that's how I try to do it and if
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you you know don't have those feelings
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you feel strongly that's different but
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if somebody was wondering they might
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just say especially with a 13 and
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16-year-old who's I have no doubt your
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boys are quite smart as you are you know
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it's okay if you want to investigate
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that a little bit and you have to
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understand that faith is is it's
00:15:02
intellectual but it's also spiritual and
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emotional we're on multi-dimensional
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Realms here okay so you know you can't
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nobody can sit here and prove it to you
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and give you a set of facts even if they
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gave you in controvertible facts that
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wouldn't be enough faith is in the end a
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leap and I if I had older kids I think
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that's what I'd say to them my little
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kids you know these These are they're
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seven and nine now as they start to ask
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questions
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my view is I've told them what I know
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they will choose for themselves their
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faith or no faith at all and that that
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will be their choice I only know my
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responsibility is to expose them how do
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you incorporate your husband being
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Jewish is he how do you incorporate
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because there's a lot of well we like
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this there's like my my wife is Jewish
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but we we haven't done anything at all
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and I wouldn't bring them to church
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although with my older kids what my
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ex-wife did was um she took them to all
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different churches all the time like she
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would go to a temple she would go to a
00:16:00
seek Temple she would go to a bapt she
00:16:03
brought them to a lot un Unitarian was
00:16:06
where she know tended to zero out on but
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um she took them to a lot of places
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which I thought was kind of a great idea
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I couldn't I didn't I think I I mean
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look I my view is sort of give God some
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access to their hearts and let him do
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the rest I mean why do we act like we're
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going to what we say is somehow going to
00:16:25
be what they end up believing anyway so
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I feel a respon responsibility because I
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do feel my faith so strongly that I want
00:16:31
to share with them what I know my my
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husband he comes from the Jewish
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tradition and he shares his traditions
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and we let those all live alongside each
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other now look I we don't have to get
00:16:43
into chapter and verse why at some point
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although there's so much in common
00:16:47
between our faiths why at some point
00:16:49
there may be questions in a conflict and
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when that day comes I hope that we can
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answer it with as much love
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understanding Grace and humility as
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possible
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for all we know and all we don't know
00:17:01
but you know there's a my kids used to
00:17:03
go they don't go to this school anymore
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but it wasn't a religious Church a
00:17:07
religious school but it had religious it
00:17:08
was an old religious schools but 100
00:17:10
years later in New York City it didn't
00:17:12
but they still had Chapel every week and
00:17:15
what I loved about it was you know the
00:17:16
chapel had nothing religious in it but
00:17:19
it was space and time for something
00:17:20
other than the Here and Now for
00:17:23
something other than what right in front
00:17:24
of you so maybe it's a long-winded way
00:17:26
of getting to something of an answer SC
00:17:29
which is to however you do it to leave a
00:17:31
little space and if God chooses to enter
00:17:34
that space well won't you be lucky even
00:17:35
though Scott you'll be in
00:17:38
despair why should anything change why
00:17:41
should anything change well you know
00:17:43
what Scott all I my big View and I write
00:17:45
about this in the book is God speaks our
00:17:47
language like you open your heart and
00:17:49
you give a little access point then let
00:17:52
God do the rest he's God you're not not
00:17:54
or not that we not if you're you but you
00:17:57
may be surprised you were sitting here
00:17:59
thinking the reason I am interested I I
00:18:02
was grew up Catholic and I they hated
00:18:04
gay people they did they did they did
00:18:06
and that was what re made me reject it
00:18:08
so strongly one of the and I thought
00:18:10
they were horrible in so many ways the
00:18:11
people that ran the church including
00:18:14
around uh sexual assault and stuff um
00:18:17
but one of the things that I think I'm
00:18:18
attracted to is the quiet it's so quiet
00:18:20
in there and I think you're right being
00:18:21
quiet is a very difficult thing these
00:18:23
days um I'm going to ask you one more
00:18:25
question Scott may have one more but I
00:18:26
do have to ask you about these AI
00:18:28
generated companion and workbooks being
00:18:29
sold to a company your book mine are I
00:18:31
there's full books of Caris Wier with
00:18:33
really creepy looking uh Caris swier
00:18:36
faces on them you you you look I don't
00:18:39
look hot stop it stop it and this now
00:18:43
Savannah we have a nice guest in our
00:18:44
thing we have a nice lady with us stop
00:18:46
it um when do you what did you think
00:18:48
when you you you brought them up to me
00:18:50
what what did you think when you first
00:18:52
saw them pop up and these are workbooks
00:18:54
workbooks that they sell them to ACC
00:18:56
company your book and you had nothing to
00:18:57
do with them and you could do a workbook
00:18:59
for example well yes I mean and here's
00:19:03
the thing my mother's the one who told
00:19:04
me about it she said oh honey I'm I
00:19:06
bought your workbook I'm like what
00:19:08
workbook right and then she's told me to
00:19:10
look it up and then I saw it and you
00:19:12
know what is horrifying about it is well
00:19:14
I mean first of all who knows what the
00:19:15
heck it says with our names on it but
00:19:18
also people spend their real money it's
00:19:19
not like it's $1 it was
00:19:21
$4.99 actually at one of my book events
00:19:24
this nice lady brought it to me she said
00:19:26
I just wanted you to know there are
00:19:27
these fake workbook
00:19:29
and I said oh H I'm I'm all over it I
00:19:31
know and I of course immediately said it
00:19:34
to the publisher but there's very little
00:19:35
they can do if the I don't understand it
00:19:38
you know totally from a legal
00:19:40
perspective if there's a true likeness
00:19:41
to your book like there were a few that
00:19:43
came on that were light yellow like mine
00:19:46
they could get those taken down but the
00:19:47
others they don't and it's just really
00:19:49
unfortunate because people are spending
00:19:51
their their money on it and also for
00:19:54
authors and even Publishers you know
00:19:56
that's that's a book not sold right
00:19:59
somebody I I hope you know I complained
00:20:01
to the CEO of Amazon to your behalf so
00:20:03
you know I just was it was like crazy
00:20:05
but they can't do anything Scott final
00:20:07
question so when you were when you and
00:20:09
your boyfriend now husband were thinking
00:20:12
about building a life
00:20:14
together and you I I don't know if you
00:20:16
had the conversation around religion but
00:20:18
it's it's unlikely unless people meet at
00:20:20
church or Temple that they exact views
00:20:23
on this topic calibrate perfectly and
00:20:26
did you have conversations around this
00:20:27
did you find you needed to accommodate
00:20:29
did one person grow into it more than
00:20:31
the other was it less important to one
00:20:32
person than the other so it it shape
00:20:35
more around who was important to talk
00:20:37
about how you decided that religion
00:20:40
should should morph or not such that you
00:20:42
could shape a life together we talked
00:20:45
about it a lot and you know of course I
00:20:46
came up in a tradition where you weren't
00:20:48
supposed to marry outside the faith and
00:20:50
I think his tradition probably was the
00:20:52
same as well so right there we're
00:20:54
already you know Heretics in some sense
00:20:56
but we talked about it a ton and and um
00:20:59
we actually this isn't the only reason
00:21:01
that we faed around and dated for five
00:21:03
long years before getting married but it
00:21:05
is one of the topics that came up how
00:21:07
can we make this work and still have
00:21:09
integrity with both of our faiths and
00:21:11
that's something that we're trying to do
00:21:13
and not water down either one and you
00:21:16
know I I kind of indicated this when
00:21:18
they're little it's easier to do that
00:21:20
when they're older I I anticipate
00:21:23
because I believe my kids I hope I'm
00:21:25
raising smart thinking kids who aren't
00:21:27
afraid to ask hard questions you know I
00:21:30
anticipate that that will come up and
00:21:31
that we will deal with it as it does but
00:21:35
what I knew I couldn't do was in any way
00:21:38
water down or walk away from my faith
00:21:41
and my husband has known this about me
00:21:44
since our very first date and in no way
00:21:47
would ever ask me to I have to give him
00:21:49
a ton of credit too I mean it for me to
00:21:51
not only be this person but then to be
00:21:54
in this strange position where now I'm
00:21:56
writing a book about faith which is so
00:21:58
out there you know he never once was
00:22:00
like well that's great sweetie but do
00:22:02
you need to he he completely and totally
00:22:06
supported me which I am so grateful for
00:22:09
and and the biggest thing I've learned
00:22:11
is whether you have a lot of faith or a
00:22:13
lot of Doubt or something altogether
00:22:17
different I do think to your point Scott
00:22:19
people long for connection and they want
00:22:22
to have conversations that are deep and
00:22:24
meaningful and I've had more
00:22:25
conversations even with friends I've had
00:22:27
forever since writing this book I mean
00:22:30
even Cara and I who are text besties and
00:22:32
we've talked about a lot of things and
00:22:33
when I said oh I'm writing this book
00:22:36
that opened up a conversation or a lane
00:22:37
of conversation we hadn't had before and
00:22:41
I loved that she was so open and
00:22:44
interested and said like oh I love
00:22:45
talking to people about faith it doesn't
00:22:47
mean I agree with your faith it means
00:22:49
isn't it interesting to have these
00:22:51
conversations it is isn't this more
00:22:52
valuable to spend time talking about
00:22:54
what you believe what you don't believe
00:22:57
let's connect as humans this is the
00:22:59
stuff that actually matters and I'm
00:23:01
hoping that the book at least creates
00:23:04
that opportunity this book is really
00:23:06
interesting I've really enjoyed uh
00:23:08
reading it um and I think it's good
00:23:10
Scott does talk about Community a lot
00:23:11
and it's important to this is what it's
00:23:13
about faith and Community which is
00:23:15
doesn't necessarily have to have any
00:23:16
religion at all um the book is mostly
00:23:19
what God does Reflections on seeking and
00:23:21
finding his love Everywhere by Savannah
00:23:24
Guthrie and her AI friends anyway thank
00:23:28
you so much thank you I so enjoyed it
00:23:31
thanks Scott thanks
00:23:36
Cara

Episode Highlights

  • Savannah Guthrie's Faith Journey
    Savannah shares her personal reflections on faith and vulnerability in her new book.
    “It's so personal, it's so vulnerable.”
    @ 01m 13s
    March 13, 2024
  • A Radical Reframing of God
    Savannah reveals how her understanding of God shifted from fear to love.
    “Mostly what God does is love you.”
    @ 03m 51s
    March 13, 2024
  • The Importance of Doubt
    Savannah discusses how doubt is an integral part of faith, not an exception.
    “Doubt is kind of faith being worked out.”
    @ 09m 08s
    March 13, 2024
  • Navigating Faith in Relationships
    Discussing how differing faiths can shape a relationship and the importance of integrity.
    “We talked about it a ton... how can we make this work?”
    @ 20m 59s
    March 13, 2024
  • The Value of Conversations
    Exploring the significance of discussing beliefs and doubts in friendships.
    “I do think... people long for connection and want deep conversations.”
    @ 22m 11s
    March 13, 2024
  • Reflections on Community and Faith
    The book emphasizes the importance of community and faith beyond religion.
    “This is what it's about: faith and community.”
    @ 23m 15s
    March 13, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Vulnerability01:25
  • Love and Relationships05:34
  • Faith and Doubt09:08
  • Fake Workbooks19:15
  • Faith Conversations20:45
  • Supportive Partner22:06
  • Meaningful Connections22:52
  • Book Reflections23:19

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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