Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying, "Yes, I pre-accept
the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding. Faith is walking face-first and full speed into the dark. (Elizabeth Gilbert)
I normally do not like memoirs. Not because they aren't entertaining, but rather because I feel that they aren't honest. Maybe the truth is stretched a tad too much, or maybe the stuff is made up. After all, the more incredible something seems, the more it sells.
A friend recommended
Eat, Pray, Love to me about two years ago, right after it came out. I bought it because I like to buy books whether I intend to read them then, or later, or never. And with that in mind it sat, alphabetically, of course, in my bookcase until about three months ago when I roamed the house at 1 in the morning, trying to find something to read.
Elizabeth, like so many of us growing up thinking that we must become productive members of society, was married to a very nice young man, living in a big house, having a dream job. Yet she wasn't happy. Oftentimes, the wee hours of morning would find her stretched out on the cold bathroom floor, crying out to God to help her.
Very soon after, she divorced her husband, quit her job, sold her house and went on an adventure to find herself and her God. And to remain celibate while at it. First she went to Italy, where her sole occupation was to eat all the delicacies she could get her hands on. Yes, she met all kinds of hot Italian men, but she kept the promise she made to herself. She was a glutton, true, but there was no hanky-panky going on with anyone!
Realizing that she needed more in-depth purification, the next stop was an Ashram in India. Here she spent days in silence and prayer. The most beautiful, honest passages of the entire book are in this section. The rawness in her writing moved me to tears on many occasions, and there are sections I still go back and read for how simply and beautifully they express her soul's quest.
The final stop is on the island of Bali. Love in all it's complex forms, awaits her here. However, now she's a woman transformed, calm and certain of her faith. Whereas a year before she would have become an emotional mess, she now possesses maturity, knowledge and forgiveness. For both those who wrong her, and herself.