Savannah Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie remains missing, shared a heartbreaking Easter message.
The “Today” anchor appeared in a video of Good Shepherd New York’s digital Easter rally on Sunday. Savannah spoke about the importance of Easter and the happiness it brings to the Christian faith, before admitting that she is currently going through a difficult time.
“Today we celebrate the promise of new life that will never end in death. But I must stand here today and say that there are moments when that promise seems irretrievably far away,” she said. “When life itself seems much more difficult than death.”
“It’s a moment of deep disappointment with God, a sense of complete abandonment,” she continued. “For most of us, there comes a time in our lives when these emotions swing wildly.”
Savannah went on to say that her faith teaches her to take comfort in the fact that Jesus also experienced pain. But again, she said she is currently questioning her feelings.
“But recently, during my own trying season, I wondered,” she said. “I wondered, but the answer was withheld, whether Jesus had ever really experienced this particular wound that I feel, this painful, uniquely cruel wound of ignorance, uncertainty and confusion.”
“In those darkest moments, I bitterly, and perhaps irreverently, wondered if I had encountered emotions that Jesus did not know.”
She said, “There’s nothing wrong with thinking things like that and questioning our God.” Savannah said she wants to fully acknowledge her loss and pain.
“It is precisely because of the darkness that the light this morning is so wonderful and blindingly beautiful. It is all the more bright because it is so desperately needed,” she explained.
“So this morning when I close my eyes I feel the sunshine,” she added. “I have a bright vision of the day when heaven and earth will perish, for heaven and earth are one on earth as they are in heaven.”
“When we celebrate today, this is what we celebrate. And I celebrate too. I still believe. So I say with conviction, Happy Easter.”
Today’s Savannah’s family, who remain at her sister Annie’s home in Tucson, Arizona, rally around her as they desperately search for clues as to their mother’s whereabouts.
Nancy, 84, has been missing since February 1st.
Savannah revealed chilling new details about her mother’s disappearance in an interview with the Today show last month.
“The door was thrown open, there was blood on the porch, and the Ring camera had been pulled out,” Nancy told Hoda Kotb of her home. “So we said, ‘This is no good.'”
