One Tuesday Morning Themes

One Tuesday Morning is Bible-based, rooted in the words of the Bible as a source of strength and comfort to the characters, who attempt to live by the words of God. Jake’s Bible centers the narrative. He contemplates it and writes his thoughts about passages in it every day. In the Puritan tradition, he also writes his thoughts in his journal every day, but he contemplates his wife’s spiritual journey more than his own. Significantly, he writes in private, so that his wife does not feel pressured to accept Jesus as her savior before she is really ready. Hoping that someday his beloved wife will be open to reading his words and accepting God in her life, he feels that her lack of faith is the only element lacking in their relationship. Jake’s concern for his wife’s salvation despicts for the reader the depth and joy of love and faith.

The many layers of words in Jake’s Bible and journal provide the opportunity for salvation for both Jamie and Eric. The dead Jake’s living words serve as a model of God-centered life for the tabula rasa of the amnesiac Eric. The investment broker who has neglected his wife, son, and God learns how to love God. Inspired by God’s love, Eric vows to invest his love in his wife and son. He returns to California transformed. Filtered through the words of Jake Bryan, the Bible saves two nonbelievers. Following the biblical model, Kingsbury uses the words of her novel to tell stories that instruct and inspire....