Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere

One of the central questions the book interrogates is the nature of divine love and how it influences human life. From the outset, Guthrie reflects, “All I know is it took me a long time, a lifetime of church and no church, faith and not much faith, seeking and failing, hoping and falling, to understand this basic precept: mostly what God does is love us” (4). This statement encapsulates her conviction that understanding divine love is a journey of spiritual exploration and that divine love is the foundational element of faith. The book proposes that understanding and accepting this love is crucial for personal transformation, suggesting that faith is not mostly about religious practices or dogma but about experiencing and embodying God’s love in one’s life.

Guthrie further develops this theme by discussing specific ways in which divine love can manifest in human actions and its impact on both the giver and receiver. Guthrie contends that “For those suffering, God might be too difficult to believe in, too far removed, too esoteric a concept to be felt. Who can blame them? […] When we look someone in the eye, offer our coat, or invite a stranger to sit with us, we transmit the love of God” (253).