Eating, Loving, and Praying

My book club started up again (YAY!) and our first selection was Eat. Love. Pray. by Elizabeth Gilbert. I was pretty sure I had heard of it when I was told the title, but had no idea what it was about! I'm always reading something, and at the time I found out about this book, I was reading 3 other books. Not sure how this was going to fit in, but I was looking forward to book club starting again, so I began my hunt for the book. I surprised to find it in the travel writings section of the bookstore. I was already more interested in the book! Then I read the tagline "One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia". Yeah, OK, I was hooked, and I hadn't even opened the book! Being a travel FREAK and having already traveled to India myself, I knew I'd thoroughly enjoy this one. And I can honestly say I did! In a nutshell, Elizabeth Gilbert, a travel in her early thirties, had just suffered a heartbreaking divorce and a torrid love affair, when she decided to take a year to discover pleasure in Italy and learn Italian, to learn the art prayer and mediation in India, and to experience contentment and balance in Indonesia. She was definitely on a spiritual journey, which I can appreciate, because I believe we are all in a constant state of movement towards our Heavenly Father. But early on I realized I wasn't going to line up with her theology. But I was hooked by now and wanted to know what happens!! I was surprised how much of her life outlook truly resonated with me, even not coming from a Christian worldview. "But the very fact that this world is so challenging is exactly why you sometimes must reach out of its jurisdiction for help, appealing to a higher authority in order to find your comfort." This IS why I pray and why I seek God's guidance. This crazy, chaotic, cataclysmic world isn't going to provide me contentment and peace. It's impossible! How easy it is to forget this and to search frantically for peace on earth. So thanks, Elizabeth, for that reminder. Now let's hope I can remember it! Stay tuned for more eating, loving, and praying insights....