Point of View May 7, 2026 – Hour 1 : 250 Great Things About America

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kerby Anderson. Thank you for joining me. It's the Thursday edition of Point of View, also the National Day of Prayer. So as you might imagine, because it is America 250, we're going to spend some time talking about that in the first hour.

[00:00:32] And in the second hour, we'll get back to this idea of prayer. As a matter of fact, Bill Federer will be with us, William Federer. Of course, he's written quite a number of books, but one of those is Presidents and Prayer or Prayers and Presidents and of course, many other books. So we will get into the history of this country and certainly the opportunity for you to participate if you would like. That number is 1-800-351-1212. Don't forget, we're also making available a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

[00:01:01] Those of you watching online can see this or you can go to the website pointofview.net and get your free booklet. We have been wanting to make that available to you and we certainly encourage you to either get a download and we need your email or we will send you the booklet and we just need your address. And of course, that's information on the website at pointofview.net. Marcy Gourley is with us. She is a licensed professional counselor with a master's degree in professional counseling.

[00:01:29] Really, he's a lover of history and American history in particular. She is an individual that has also coordinated a Pennsylvania chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers and co-founded a woman's ministry. But most importantly, I'm going to hold up this book for you to see today. It is entitled 250 Great Things About America. Places, people and principles worth celebrating. So, Marcy, welcome to Point of View.

[00:01:57] Thank you, Kirby, for having me on this National Day of Prayer. What a very fitting day to be talking about this. As I mentioned yesterday, there's 250 entries here. I don't know that we'll even get to 50 of them, but we'll find out. But nevertheless, let me just say that it starts with John Winthrop, a city set on a hill, ends with E Pluribus Unum. So, 250 words to describe the United States.

[00:02:27] And then, of course, it's not just the words because each one of those is tied to historical figure. Lots of great pictures. So, I want to commend your publisher, Whitaker House, for taking the time to put those pictures in there. And this is something that I would encourage people to read individually or to read to your children. I was starting to think about this. If you read one a day, well, that's going to take you the rest of the year. If you say, well, okay, I need to maybe double up.

[00:02:56] Maybe we'll read 10 a night around the dinner table. It's still going to take you a month. Or even if you read just five every day, it'll take you between now and the 4th of July. So, there's some various ways in which people can read your book and learn from it. But give us some of the history and background because this was a definitely work of art and a very significant lifelong passion, wasn't it? Oh, definitely. Definitely.

[00:03:23] I was raised, my dad used to take us, we have three sisters, and he used to take us to graveyards and national sites and make sure that we just sat with the history and learned and applied it to our lives so that, you know, the good things from history we can learn from and the bad things from history we can move forward from and be resilient.

[00:03:50] So, it was a great way to grow up being immersed in history from my father. Well, I thought we'd just kind of work our way through some of the history. And, of course, I mentioned the first one, John Winthrop. We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. That was not only his vision, but the number of times, all the way up to Ronald Reagan, have presidents actually quoted that and talked about America as a city on a hill.

[00:04:20] Exactly. So, again, I think we just have some beginnings there, which I think help us understand that that was kind of the vision. While we're talking about Puritans, how about the pilgrims? Because you also have a section on being humble. This one comes from William Bradford. Thus, out of the small beginnings, greater things have been produced by his hand.

[00:04:43] And as we so often talk about, Marcy, during Thanksgiving, when they come over here on the Mayflower, a good number of them died the first year. And yet they were able to have a harvest and able to establish a colony and were successful and humbled themselves before the Lord and were thanksgiving because of his provision for them.

[00:05:09] The very next one after that, I say, take heart for true conviction, outlast hardship. I think that's the takeaway from them coming over and starting this great country. And there's a few more before that. But I like to remember conviction outlasts hardship. And I think it's a great lesson for us to be taking right now as we're going through things that are going on in our country right now.

[00:05:37] We can take lessons from history there. One of the things you have on number seven is self-governing. And when I was in graduate school, I had a professor who, to be candid, couldn't even sign the doctrinal statement of our church. Nevertheless, I had to admit that the first constitution that we had really was the Mayflower Compact. I'll hold up our booklet we just provided here for a biblical view on the Declaration.

[00:06:04] And yet here you have, again, the pilgrims arrive. They were at the time were known as separatists. And they had a charter for Virginia, but they landed in Massachusetts. So they drafted a document. And in some respects, this was a covenant. And in some respects, wasn't it, Marcy, if you will, the first constitution of the United States? I would say it would be considered a first constitution.

[00:06:30] Can you imagine being on that ship in a harsh windswept frigidity of a strange new world? And trying to just pull together what is this going to look like? What is this going to look like for us? And needing, I think it's a cornerstone of American democracy and self-government penned right there on that ship. Just amazing. One of the other ones, number 10. And I've sort of alluded to that, but let's get to it.

[00:06:58] Thankful our harvest having been gotten in. Our governor sent four men on fouling that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we have gathered the fruits of our labors. And that's from Edward Winslow. So, again, whether you talk about the pilgrims or the Puritans, this idea of Thanksgiving, which we now consider to be our national holiday, goes all the way back to that particular time in the 17th century. Yes, yes.

[00:07:27] And I think the word Thanksgiving should be our word for America, actually, because we have so much to be thankful for. How great. Well, let's take a break. And when we come back, we're going to make our way through some of these other attributes of the book. And it is entitled 250 Great Things About America, Places, People, and Principles Worth Celebrating.

[00:07:54] As I mentioned just a minute ago, one of the benefits that you have, if indeed you support this ministry, is you'll receive some of these booklets. Of course, the one on the Declaration I'm holding up, the one on America's founding, and many others that we've made available. And even for those of you that are first-time donors, I might just mention we have a pilgrims package, a Patriots package, I guess I should call. And that is something we make available as well. But most importantly, if you find yourself wanting to know about this book, you would like to know more about Marcy,

[00:08:22] if you'd like to know more about, of course, our free offer of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, all of it available at our website at pointofview.net. We'll come back and pick out a couple other very favorite words that illustrate this country, moving from the 17th century to the 21st century. All that coming up right after this.

[00:09:00] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. Dr. Roy Epan is a practicing endocrinologist and also served as the assistant professor of medicine at McGill University. He recently wrote that the transgender house of cards just came crashing down. He begins by declaring that the child sex change industry is built on a foundation of falsehoods, not science. Activists argue that gender-confused children will do better mentally if given hormones and irreversible surgeries.

[00:09:29] He points to a groundbreaking study that proves that sex change treatments don't improve children's mental health. The study is not the first to reach this conclusion, but it is difficult to dismiss since the researchers are from Finland. This country is one of the first to embrace sex changes for children. It is difficult to dismiss this study also because the researchers analyzed over two decades of real-world data, not hypothetical situations. It isn't some partisan study with anti-trans agenda.

[00:09:57] It is an honest examination of the evidence. The conclusion is simple. The sex change modifications and surgeries do not improve a child's mental health. In fact, they make the mental issues worse. Whether you're a doctor or not, I think you can see that children need treatment that might alleviate their mental health challenges. They need therapy and treatment that can help them come to terms with who they really are. These sex change treatments do just the opposite.

[00:10:23] It forces them to become something that is biologically opposite of who they are. The doctor also hopes that the professional societies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society see the light. These two societies were two of the earliest proponents of sex changes for children, but now the transgender house of cards has fallen. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my Point of View.

[00:10:49] Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back once again talking about this book, 250 Great Things About America. Marcy Gurley with us. Our book is, again, about people, places, and principles worth celebrating.

[00:11:18] And if you find yourself interested in this, I would certainly commend this book to you. It's just a delightful read as well as a labor of love, as you probably have figured out when you were talking about 250 different elements in it and 230 pages. You can see that there's a lot to actually talk about. But, Marcy, since you and your family live in Pennsylvania, we have to talk about William Penn, and that's number 16.

[00:11:44] William Penn was only 26 when he received a vast tract of land from King Charles. Most people don't know, but Pennsylvania's name not for William Penn, but for his father, interestingly enough. But you think about this, William Penn, such a great individual. And I don't know if you've seen, but I certainly would commend to any of our listeners this film that's out right now called A Great Awakening, which is a story not only of William Penn, but, of course, the great evangelist as well, George Whitefield.

[00:12:13] So tell us a little bit more, since you live in Pennsylvania, about William Penn. A little bit more about William Penn. Well, what I appreciate about William Penn is that he treated Native peoples with respect, and that was not the everyday practice. And he negotiated the land purchases for Pennsylvania instead of seizing them. And there was a great treaty under the elm that happened that really treated people with respect.

[00:12:43] And his main goal was to have what he called a holy experiment, a society rooted in freedom of conscience and guided by the golden rule, which I think is an amazing start to a beautiful state. Let me just mention, and I jumped ahead, really, because Great Awakening is about Benjamin Franklin, which is also one of those, number 19, where you talk about, again, his idea of a plan for a union, for having a president.

[00:13:12] Of course, I just mentioned a minute ago Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield, individuals that, if nothing else, help us understand that these ideas that ended up in first the Declaration and later in the Constitution were really formed in the middle of the 17th century and the early parts of the 18th century. And if nothing else, just to remind us again of such great individuals as Benjamin Franklin and William Penn.

[00:13:42] Absolutely. One thing I find interesting about Ben Franklin is, well, and we're so used to the idea of a president, of course, throughout the time, but it had to come from somewhere. We're trying to break away from Great Britain, and Ben Franklin comes up with this idea of a president general being named by the king,

[00:14:06] but, of course, the king did not want another ruler instead of himself, and so that didn't work. And then most people at that time were just not quite ready for that, but he planted a seed, which eventually became, obviously, to become our first president with George Washington. Well, again, you also have a section about Benjamin Franklin as brilliant, number 25. And a little bit later, as a matter of fact, on the second hour, we'll have a little bit of time

[00:14:36] in which there's a very good piece that we've posted today, America 250, Blessed with Great Leaders. And it talks about some of the brilliance of whether it's Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin or the rest. And so one of the words used to define America is brilliant, and we have been blessed to have a lot of brilliant individuals, whether Benjamin Franklin or James Madison or Thomas Jefferson, certainly George Washington and others,

[00:15:03] that were just brilliant individuals that are ones that actually gave us the republic that we have today. Absolutely. Ben Franklin could have done anything. Like, obviously, he flew a kite in an experiment for electric, and he made the glasses, and he did all kinds of things that he could have done just engineering-wise. But he remained a respected voice of reason from – he could have remained a respected voice from the sidelines.

[00:15:33] But he chose to be a part of the formation of this unique government. He was absolutely just so involved with negotiating treaties and forming strategic alliances that we don't only think about. But what I would say is rather than rhetoric, the diligent American patriot assumes action. And that is exactly what Ben Franklin did.

[00:16:03] One of the things you also talk about is courageous, and if you're going to pick somebody, certainly Patrick Henry, famous for saying, I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Giving that particular speech at the Virginia House of Burgesses and a reminder that in some respects,

[00:16:25] when they declared independence from Great Britain, they were, by definition, traitors and certainly had a price on their head. So in order for the American Revolution to succeed, it required a great deal of courageous action by quite a number of individuals. Yeah, can you imagine the fear they must have had of not knowing what was going to become of them, what was going to happen?

[00:16:53] It had to have been crippling. But after hearing Patrick Henry give the beautiful speech, so many people were just lit with courage and conviction. And it was a turning point moment. One of the other ones, of course, is number 30, nation building. Of course, all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.

[00:17:21] And, of course, this idea of Thomas Jefferson, in which you talk about, of course, the bold claim of Patrick Henry, the weight of Hamilton's conviction, the validation of Lafayette's sacrifice, and the idea that this was a nation born in ink, survived in sacrifice. It is, I think, striking that G.K. Chesterton even said that America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.

[00:17:48] That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence. This is really a nation of ideas, isn't it? It is a nation of ideas. It is still to come. So, again, just some very important principles there. Just before we go on, I thought it would be remiss if I didn't ask if you had some favorite topics that are part of your book,

[00:18:13] because in researching and finding 250, there are probably a few that stand out to you. A few that stand out to me kind of in the middle of the book, 106, 107, and 108. I call them beacons because they are actually beacons that really touch me in my personal life when I think about a beacon of light

[00:18:36] and thinking about Thomas Edison and, you know, how many failures he had, failure after failure after failure. But if he had not pressed forward, we would not have our incandescent light bulb, which obviously changed the world. And I think from that I get pressing forward even through failures is so important.

[00:19:00] The next one is a beacon of faith, and this is one of my favorite stories of all time of Mr. Horatio Spafford, who was an attorney from Chicago, and he had lost so many things out of the Chicago Great Fire. It just devastated his financial life, and after taking a couple of years recovering from those losses, he wanted to go on vacation with his family.

[00:19:30] He had four daughters and a lovely wife, and he wanted to go across the ocean to Europe, and he got held back from a little bit of work he needed to finish up, so he sent his daughters and his wife on ahead, and then he received a telegram that said two words, saved alone. And what had happened is the ship had gone down, and all four of his daughters died.

[00:19:58] And, you know, just desperate, in grief, he gets on another ship, and the captain shows him basically where the other ship went down, and he's overcome with sorrow and grief. And he sits down, and he writes one of the most famous hymns of all time. And actually, it's words that are on my wall right in front of me. It is well.

[00:20:25] And when I just think about, like, when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. Wow. That he was able to do that. It's just amazing. And the other beacon that I put in there very purposely was the beacon of hope.

[00:20:50] I think this is my mantra, I think, a little bit, is hope as resistance. Sure. As we go through difficult times. And that beacon of hope, I would say, is the Statue of Liberty. Statue of Liberty. Yes. Well, we need to take a break, and when we come back, you will certainly find some really great material in here. We've kind of jumped ahead, but we'll come back and pick out a few others. While we talk about Horatio Spafford,

[00:21:17] I might also mention I Can Only Imagine 2, which is a great story of Bart Millard, but there's a theme there about him in that movie. So some great Christian movies out right now. Let's take a break, though. We'll be back right after this. Many years ago, they began saying that we live in the information age. Well, today, there is so much information coming at us from every direction.

[00:21:43] The hardest thing is to discern which issues are really important, and how can I make a positive impact without wasting my time trying to figure out accurate information. Let me give you a suggestion to help with that. Visit pointofview.net. Look at the tabs across the top. Find the one named Viewpoints. Kirby Anderson and others on our team are constantly watching for news to identify those issues that you really need to know about.

[00:22:13] They boil things down in a brief summary, and then you can decide if it's something on which you want to learn more and get involved. Again, when you go to pointofview.net, click on Viewpoints, you'll see exactly what I mean. You'll see the issues that we are covering right now. And when you like what you see, I honestly think you will. You can slide on over, enter your email, and get them automatically sent to your inbox each day. That's it. Take a minute now.

[00:22:42] Be informed. Pointofview.net. Click on Viewpoints. Point of View will continue after this. You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:05] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. Continue our conversation today with Marcy Gurley as we talk about her book, 250 Great Things About America, Places, People, and Principles Worth Celebrating. And, of course, we talked about this idea of a beacon, because we have a beacon of light, a beacon of faith, a beacon of hope,

[00:23:34] some great illustrations in the middle of the book. But I thought we might go back to just one of the others that you talk about, and that is a city on a hill. Now, we just, of course, started with that very famous statement that came from, of course, John Winthrop. But here, number 52, you remind us that when it came time to plan the District of Columbia, this was a stretch of land, which at that time was kind of a swamp,

[00:24:03] but nevertheless, we redesigned it. And, of course, you had the architect, Pierre-Charles Lefont, that put this together. And you've traveled to Washington, D.C., so talk about that, because in some respects the goal there was to have a, if you will, a capital that was really for the people, not for royalty. It was sort of the people's place, and that's how it was really designed, wasn't it? It was definitely designed for us to enjoy

[00:24:32] and to be able to really appreciate the monuments to the people. Even the way the streets are laid out, they're pretty fascinating in the engineering of that. But, wow, D.C., it just grew into a symbol of national identity, and a city of ideals where decisions of global weight would echo for generations,

[00:25:00] still echo when thinking about so many things going on just there right now. I was just there a couple weeks ago. And how beautiful it was with the cherry blossoms and everything there just put together so well. Just well done. Well done. One of the other things I thought I'd mention just down the road, if you will, is Fort McHenry, because you have two.

[00:25:25] You have determined Fort McHenry, which, of course, is very important in terms of the War of 1812. The next one, victorious, Francis Scott Key. And that, of course, brings us to the Star Spangled Banner, doesn't it? It sure does. Yes, Star Spangled Banner, how amazing. What a story of being able to see, you know, in the bonds early light, the victory that happened,

[00:25:55] and the people, just the individual people that helped from Baltimore, basically not necessarily in the Army or anything like that, just basic people just defending their homes and their city,

[00:26:15] and being able to, the next day, Francis Scott Key writing, you know, the beauty of the Star Spangled Banner there. It's just that the story is just so overwhelming. Again, and I think a lot of young people that maybe even learn how to sing the Star Spangled Banner don't even know the history behind it, and it's a fascinating history. In schools, yeah. Yes.

[00:26:45] I think it needs to definitely be sung in schools and the story of it learned. Yeah, please read this book to your kids. Well, that's one of the, and let's talk about that for just a second before we get to some others, and that is the way I saw this book coming together is the kind of thing that I can read to my children and grandchildren, or I can dip into it. It can be a devotional book, but it can really be an educational book, and one of the things, Marcy, we have been trying to do, as you probably figured out by now,

[00:27:14] been holding up booklets that we've produced on things like the Declaration, the founding, the patriot preachers, and all those kinds of things, also making available this copy that we have actually produced, which has a point-of-view logo on it and everything, for the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. During America 250, this is a great time to come back to our heritage, and we really need to teach it, don't we? We definitely need to teach it. That reminds me of something that I have in here that Henry Ford said,

[00:27:44] coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, but working together is success. And I think that we need to get back to that mindset of not just keeping together, but working together and really having respect for Imago Dei of seeing each other in the image of God and treating each other that way. Yes.

[00:28:09] Well, one of the things I wanted to focus on is the fact that you have risk-taking. That's the Underground Railroad and, of course, Harriet Tubman. And then you also have one called Bold, Born into Slavery, Sojourner Truth. And, again, we certainly try during, I say, Black History Month to provide some of that, but you have a whole section that reminds us of what was happening in the South and certainly what was happening in the country,

[00:28:39] certainly some dark chapters in American history, but also some individuals that certainly were willing to take risks, willing to be bold. Willing to be bold. I think it's really important to take a look at where we failed, where we went right and where we failed, and not just for the sake of self-deprecation but for healing,

[00:29:03] and to take that into the now of how did we heal from, you know, the things we did wrong in history, how did we heal from that, and then how can we do it again now as we're making decisions in the now? And I think that's very important to bring up, to know our history of how not just we went right, but how we went wrong, and then how we healed from that.

[00:29:29] And just being able to come together. Back to that Henry Ford quote, being able to come together and work together and see things differently. I love that the National Day of Prayer theme this year is glorify God among the nations, seeking him in all generations.

[00:29:54] I really wrote this book as lanterns set along a path to teach to the next generation of how we can get back, get back to God, get back to faith, get back to clarity, and get back to the founding dynamics. I just mentioned, too, as we move on, that you also have a whole section, for example, free.

[00:30:20] All persons held as slaves within a state shall be then and forever free. The Emancipation Proclamation, and certainly that is the case. And nearly 200,000 African Americans would take up arms for the cause of the Civil War. And then, of course, you have whole sections that get us into everything from Gettysburg to, of course, the Gettysburg Address that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

[00:30:48] And so this whole very dynamic section is just a reminder of the price that was paid in the Civil War. Absolutely. It's so important for us to remember how close we came to not having what we have now and how we healed from that. And I think one of the interesting ones, I don't have it right in front of me,

[00:31:15] but is when Grant and Lee are at Appomattox, and Lee comes in when he's dressed to the nines,

[00:31:27] and Grant comes in, he's not so dressed, but just watching, just knowing how Grant, he saw the humanity, and he understood that, you know, these people from the South are going to go back, and they're going to feel war-torn, and they're going to feel discouraged.

[00:31:56] And he recognized the humanity in that, and he appreciated that, and he let Lee know in so many different ways that we're going to be a united nation again. One of his comments, you know, the war is over. Rebels are our countrymen again. And in many cases they were allowed to keep some of their weapons, because after all they had to go back to their world as well.

[00:32:24] And in some respects, one of the great achievements was to take a very divided nation and bring it back together. You have a section there on healing and some of that. We can take a break, though. When we come back, I do want to get into a few others, especially since we talked about providing freedom for African Americans. What about providing rights for women? And that gets us into one of the words there, tenacious, for Susan B. Anthony.

[00:32:53] And we'll get into a couple of the other issues that are there. A lot of this has to do with remarkable technology. Of course, we already mentioned Edison. What about Alexander Graham Bell? What about the Wright brothers and a variety of others that we'll get into? And, of course, we mentioned Henry Ford in passing. But we'll get into some of the other aspects of 250 great things about America, places, people, and principles worth celebrating.

[00:33:19] And if you would like to know more about that, you can go to the website, which is pointofview.net, and just scroll down because we have a link there. You might be able to find it in your local bookstore, but if not, there's a way you can get it in paperback or Kindle. It's a great resource, and I have already given you some ideas on how you might be able to use it. And, of course, we also encourage you to take the time to maybe find my commentary, which on May 1st was entitled, Is America Great?

[00:33:47] I think it fits very well with this book, and we'll be back right after this. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back for a few more minutes as we talk about 250 great things about America, places, people, and principles. We're celebrating Marcy Gurley with us. And, Marcy, one of the things I was struck by is near the middle and end of your book,

[00:34:17] the number of times you focus on what we would be considering inventors and entrepreneurs. I mentioned Alexander Graham Bell. Of course, you've already mentioned Thomas Edison. We can mention Henry Ford. We can mention certainly the Wright brothers. And that's just a small sampling of that. And I think that's another greatness of this country, and that is because we provide freedom, and we also give people property rights.

[00:34:46] In other words, you can own your own invention and benefit from it. It's a place where we've had so many inventions and so many entrepreneurial startups simply because of the freedom that we enjoy in this country. My husband is a highway engineer, and so that really brings home the engineering of the highways throughout our nation.

[00:35:11] And also, as you were just talking about that, I was thinking, wow, amazing feats of engineering in our infrastructure and in our highway designs. And just thinking about that alone is pretty great to be able to get out on the open road in America and have that freedom to do that. One of the other themes that runs through your book near the end is nature.

[00:35:39] You have a section on impressive, and there you're talking about the great lakes. It's immense. You're talking about, of course, the redwood forest of the West Coast, and you show some giant sequoia. As well as dramatic, you show the Pacific Coast Highway. You also, of course, talk about some of these engineering feats like the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Rocky Mountains, you know, awesome and vast and soulful.

[00:36:05] It's amazing, again, that is one thing that oftentimes when somebody comes here from another country, maybe they've come from Europe, and they've been familiar, for example, maybe with the Alps, but the rest of it isn't quite as dramatic. And then to see the Rocky Mountains or for individuals that have never even lived by the ocean, to see the oceans, to see some of the incredible beauty of this country,

[00:36:30] you spend a fair amount of time saying that some of the things about America have to do with just the natural beauty that we already enjoy. The natural beauty that we already enjoy, but to take it on a personal level, I just got back from coastal Maryland a couple weeks ago, too, and the one thing that hits me with being able to see the beauty of the shore, of the Atlantic,

[00:36:54] is a peaceful heart is not fragile but resilient and capable of weathering life's storms with quiet resolve. That's what I get out of seeing the beauty in Sea to Shining Sea, is the resilience of not just the people in the country, but the country itself, the beauty of the country, this incredibly resilient storm after storm.

[00:37:24] God has created greatness in his artwork in our nation. Beautiful. Just real quickly, I thought I'd pick out just a couple other themes. One, we talk a great deal about the military on this program, and you have won 219 commemorative because, after all, we now have the uniform holiday concept of whether it's the Memorial Day,

[00:37:49] Veterans Day, or other times in which we honor individuals with parades, ceremonies, the tomb of the unknown soldier. This is one of, again, those very important themes and something very significant in America as well, isn't it? It is remembrance roots us and rest restores us. I love that it's about these holidays that we get rest from them, hopefully, and it restores us to the work ahead that we have to do. Wow.

[00:38:18] One of the other ones I thought I'd pick out since we have been talking about Artemis 2, you have a section here on Epic. For example, Neil Armstrong, there's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. A little bit later, there's one that you have, 230, on exploring, and that one has to do with the Hubble Telescope, which is named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and that is a way in which we are exploring space with our telescopes,

[00:38:48] but we're also exploring space by sending people back to the moon, aren't we? That is what we have done recently, yes. It's pretty amazing. And I also want to encourage people, if you have not done so, get to Houston and get to Florida and go to the space centers and see just how the ingenuity and the creativity of our minds for space exploration is fabulous. It's just mind-blowing.

[00:39:18] I might just pick out a couple of the museums, too. One of those, 245 Unshakable, standing proudly on the National Monument Mall, is the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which, again, tells a lot of stories. We, of course, talked about Harriet Tubman's shawls there, Louis Armstrong's trumpet. And for those who need to know some of our history, that is a great way to learn our history by going to some of those museums.

[00:39:49] You know, I really just encourage people, if they can get to D.C., especially the museums that we have in that general area itself, just so encouraging to see how we have worked together as a nation for ingenuity and for healing and for both emotional and spiritual and innovational growth. One other one, I talked about this at the beginning.

[00:40:15] 250 Great, when America's founders inscribed E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many One, that's, of course, in the Great Seal, and that is also on our dollar bills. And that was, in some respects, a good way to kind of bring a close to the book. But I thought, Marcy, for just a minute, I would mention that we do have a link to your website, marcygruele.com. Don't even have to know how to spell your last name because we have it on the website there.

[00:40:41] There is, first of all, a podcast that you do. There's a blog. There's a place where people can contact you, sign up for your newsletter. And I suspect some people maybe would like to have you come and speak on the book or something of that nature. And is that available? That is available. Get a hold of me through my website there, yes. So, again, there's a place for you to find out a little bit more about the podcast,

[00:41:06] one of the most recent ones, Better Angels of Our Nature, which is the podcast there, which you can find out more about. There's, of course, the blog there as well. And you can get an update on what is happening there. And I think if you find yourself saying, well, I'd like to know a little bit more, we have a link to her. And if you scroll down, you'll also see that we have a link to this book, 250 Great Things About America, Places, People, and Principles Worth Celebrating.

[00:41:35] So, Marcy, first of all, thank you for writing the book. And thank you for giving us an hour today to talk about it. Thank you so much. If I may real quick answer your question, is America great? I believe America has done great things and still contains great people. And I also believe greatness is not a permanent achievement. It's something each generation has to steward. And so my encouragement is get the book, talk to the next generation,

[00:42:02] let's get to stewarding. And so that would be my answer to your question of is America great? Very good. Well, again, this is the book that is available. If you'd like to know more about Marcy or the book, it's all available at our website, pointofview.net. Let's take a break. Just before we do so, let me mention again, we are making available this free copy, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, plus all the amendments and a variety of other things.

[00:42:32] It does have some information about point of view and that it would be something you might want to get a copy and pass on to a friend because they could also begin to realize that we are an organization that they might want to go to to learn some of these things. But it's some of the resources we would like to make available. This one, free of charge. So can't do any better than that. You can receive it as an online download, and that would be certainly sufficient for perhaps some of you, but you can also get a printed copy as well.

[00:43:01] So whether you want a particular instant download or receiving a copy in the mail, it's all available at the website, pointofview.net. We'll be right back. It was not that long ago that censorship appeared to be almost inevitable. Free speech was being attacked and strangled in many places. And some of us wondered if this was the end.

[00:43:28] But now many feel a new sense of hope, a chance for a fresh dawn. Let me caution you. Now is not the time to relax. It's a time to press forward, to use this fresh opportunity to proclaim and learn how to apply truth to current issues. By the fact you're here, listening right now, that tells me that you recognize the vital role Point of View plays as a voice of truth. For more than 50 years,

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