What does it mean to be holy? Godric considers this question as it breathes new life into many familiar Christian tropes. The theme of life as a spiritual journey is introduced early in the novel when a priest tells Godric, “This life of ours is like a street that passes many doors. . . . Every day’s a door and every night.” Eventually, he tells Godric, “you’ll reach the holy door itself,” which is not so much the door to eternity as it is the door to communion with God in this world. Holiness is seen not in keeping oneself unspotted from the world but in embracing God’s presence in the world and responding to his calling. Godric’s subsequent experiences suggest that he is continually in the process of finding God, even when he does not realize it. In many of his works, Frederick Buechner indicates that this communion is what all people hunger for, even when trying to satisfy that desire with other pleasure, and Buechner’s view of life, according to one critic, is that “every part [of life] is sacred and may become in any moment and in unexpected ways a window through which we see God. . . .”

Godric’s mighty struggles with sin recall Saint Augustine’s battles in his Confessiones (397-400; Confessions, 1620). Wracked by grief for his sins, the aged Godric wears an iron vest and submerges himself in freezing water to mortify his flesh. Yet Godric’s life is far from misery, as he shows in rejecting Elric’s view that good in this world is illusory. Though he revolts when Reginald declares him a saint, Godric maintains an ironic, self-deprecating sense of humor, amazed and amused by God’s insistence on making him an agent of grace to others. Godric becomes a minister of reconciliation in spite of himself, recognizing that others yearn for the same spiritual blessing that he seeks. This amazement—that God would use deeply flawed, sinful human beings to accomplish his will, is addressed in an interview printed in The Door Interviews (1989), edited by Mike Yaconelli, in which Buechner speaks of “the subterranean presence of grace in the world that haunts me. . . . And the mystery of the mysteries at the bottom of the well . . . is the mystery of God, of Christ” in the world.

The book unfolds as the autobiography of Godric, a hermit from the Middle Ages. After retreating to a forest hermitage, Godric's reputation as a holy man captures the attention of Bishop Flambard, who offers him a place of honor at mass. This recognition also draws the admiration of the monk Reginald, who pens a laudatory biography of Godric, hoping the elderly recluse will bless his work. However, the novel presents Godric's honest and unvarnished narrative of his life, countering Reginald's portrayal. A key theme in Godric is that genuine spirituality involves accepting the whole truth about oneself. Godric embarks on his autobiographical journey to reveal both his strengths and weaknesses, his spiritual enlightenment, and his battles with temptation. To Godric, the truth about himself is complex. He reminds his brother that the name Godric can mean "God's reign" or "God's wreck." In his youth, Godric encounters the "wreck of sin" by living as a brigand, peddling counterfeit relics, inadvertently causing the death of an innocent man, and serving a corrupt noble who oppresses the peasants and his young bride. Yet, the young Godric also experiences moments of divine presence and guidance. He meets St. Cuthbert on the Holy Island of Fame, has a vision of the Blessed Virgin who gifts him a song, and undergoes...