The Eric Metaxas Show - Anne Morse (Encore)

Episode Date: December 22, 2022

Anne Morse is in the studio to share her uplifting book perfect for the season of Christmas, "It's A Wonderful Life Advent Devotional," using lessons from that popular movie. (Encore Presentation)

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mataxis show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's legacy p.m. Investments.com. Ladies and gentlemen, he has a jar of peanut butter, and he's not afraid to use it. Here comes Eric Mattexas. Hey, Albin. Yes, sir.

I have been threatening to tell our audience, for a long, time when you know okay first of all it's christmas time and people say what can i do uh for gifts or whatever so i say to people please go to my pillow dot com use the code eric or go to my store.com use the code eric uh and there's all kinds of other stuff you can do but we keep threatening to say what some of the products are at my store.com because some of them are crazy like it's just great fun stuff and we've said uh when you go to my store.com there's but we haven't been specific. So I thought, well, let's just take a minute and go through a couple of the things that you can find at myself.

Like some of these are extremely practical and wonderful and others are just wacky. Okay. So, for example, you can get the bionic grip wrench at my store.com. Use the code, Eric. It is, it replaces 13 wrench sizes. In other words, well, you'll see it, right? But it's like it's one of these cool things. It's like a cool, too, thing.

They have bungee cords that you can get there. They have, if you want to stop bleeding, perhaps you're bleeding and you want to stop bleeding. They have something called bleed stop and bleed clot. And they also have it for horses and dogs in case you want to stop bleeding. And I'm in favor of stopping bleeding. You can get flags there if you're looking for flags. But this is one of my favorites. It's called Advanced.

tightening balm. What's that? So if you've got skin firming issues, you've got saggy skin, why not support my pillow, why not support my store.com, support this program, use the code, Eric. These are all great products, right?

There's, I mean, honestly, there's so many products. They have the My Speed Scraper, Ice Scraper. Do we know what that does? I would imagine that, it gets the ice off faster than any other product out there. Okay. There's stuff.

There's stuff for garden and patios. There's food and drink. There's, I mean, there's just like the products there. I mean, look, they have, first of all, we've got to highlight my coffee. We drink my coffee. Yes, we do. And folks, we pay for it, right? We don't like, it's not shipped to us for free.

We choose to get my coffee. Of course, use the code, Eric. But it is fantastic coffee. It's absolutely fantastic. You get it at my store.com. But they've got tons of other products. You can get Benson Honey Farms raw grade A clover honey. You want to buy your honey from, you want to support Mike Lindell and this program.

Go to my store.com. Buy your honey there. Use the code. Eric, there's trail mix. There's tea. There's marinara sauce. Who doesn't want marinera sauce for Christmas from my store? Mike Lindell.

And, you know, we're sort of joking around, but I know that all his products are great products. Like, I know Mike, right? This is all great stuff. Yeah, I found one here that I really like. This woman said that her pets actually inspired this product. It's called Wolf Perfect. And of course, Perfect. It has two R's in it.

But what I like is, you know how they stay in advertising? It's not the steak. It's a sizzle. So she's got a great name, Wolf Perfect. So it deals with both cats and dogs. and probably even canaries or something. What is it do? You just giving us the name.

It removes the stain from your carpet. Oh, from your carpet. Yes. Okay. There's something to, if you're into dry rubs, and who isn't? No. Mike Glendell at my store.com carries something called Bub and Mother's dry rubs. Bub and Mother have obviously combined a team effort.

Bub and mother have created a dry rub available. Use the code, promo code. Eric, Kendra's kitchen salsa three pack. I happen to know Kendra is the fiancé of Mike Lindell. I know Kendra. I love Kendra. She's a wonderful woman of faith. I did not know that she had created a salsa three pack available with the code, Eric, at my store.

dot com. There are, I mean, there is everything here. You've just got to go to, you've got to go. Actually, this one's nuts. How did they pull this off? Some people, I use everything bagel seasoning, like you can put it on

because I love the taste of an everything bagel. They have it, but salt free. Salt free, everything bagel seasoning. promo code, Eric at my store.com. It should be. Everything bagel seasoning. It should be almost everything bagel seasoning because it's missing the salt. All right.

Another crack like that and you'll be out of a job. Okay. So you can, they have so much stuff here. But I mean, it's like it's fun just to look at what they have. You can get, I'm going to laugh.

Like I can't, I can't even, I don't know. They have the original wacker spoon. Oh, the original. Everybody, I know. Everybody's like getting the wacker spoon, but it's a rip-off wacker. You want the original wacker spoon.

If you're not familiar with the wacker spoon, ladies and gentlemen, join the club. What is the wacker spoon? Evidently, it tenderizes meat, flattens chicken, make chicken pie yard. You can pulverize peppercorns, release flavor from spices and herbs, crushed garlic, release pulp from its skin, mashed potatoes, legumes. evidently, the whackerspoon is kind of a big deal in the cooking world. And we want to say if you want to get the original whackerspoon, not one of these rip-off, you know, facsimiles, the original whackerspoon available at my store.com.

Make sure you use the code Eric. Otherwise, you could get a fake whackerspoon. That's right. All right. All right. And there's all kinds of, there's rubs. I mean, there's so much stuff in here. I'm going to go crazy after the program.

I'm going to go in here. I'm going to do all my Christmas shopperspoon.com and use it. No, you go to my store.com, Albin. Be very clear. We don't have, we have no, we can't joke. It's all too serious. Garden and patio stuff. I mean, for all your garden and patio needs, I live in an apartment, so sadly we don't have a garden or a patio.

But there's all kinds of stuff at my store.com. I can't believe I'm reading this, Albin, while I'm trying to keep a straight face. Yeah. I'm not making this up. It's entertaining. I'm not making this up. If you go to my store.com, there is a product there. It's an expensive product. It is called pinch a log. Uh-oh. Pinch a log. That sounds untoward. It sounds somehow scatological. But pinch a log is a tool that you use to. pinch a log to to to it's not it's not a it's not a it's not really a stool softener or a laxative what it is is an expensive tool that you use to pick up heavy logs and it illustrates it you're picking up throwing step for firewood no deep bending pinch a log available at my store.com and if it's if it's health products that you want I can't

believe this. Look, folks, Christmas is coming up. We said we would do this eventually. So we're just letting you know if you go to my store.com, use the code, Eric, you're supporting this program and you're supporting our hero and our friend Mike Lindel. But there's so much fun stuff there. Now, everybody knows about my pillow.com. Yeah. But my store.com, you can get my books. You can get the Bonhofer poster. And you get all these other insane, wacky, I mean, I cannot believe. And again, if you know Mike Lindell, he's not putting stuff on here that's junk. So, so I'm sure you know, that you can trust this. There's also nose seal adhesive strips.

You can get a great night's sleep, nose seal, I guess it prevents snoring. I think so. But you know what? We should get very, very serious here in the last minute that we have and talk about CSI. We really have to talk about that. Okay.

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Welcome to the program. If you know anything about me, you know that I had the privilege of working for Chuck Colson, eventually being friends with Chuck Colson. and I think of how much that period of time working for him meant to me, not least because I made so many friends who were also in that universe. One of them is with me today. Her name is Anne Morris. Anne, it's just a joy to see you.

Thank you very much. Now, look, the reason I have you here is not just because we're friends, but you have written a book that touches on one of the greatest movies of all time. and it says, well, folks, you've heard of the movie, It's a Wonderful Life. It's just one of the best movies ever made. And, Ann, you've written a book titled It's a Wonderful Life, Advent Devotional. You love this film so much that you decided to write a devotional based on this classic American film. So we've got to start at the beginning.

We're in the world. How did that happen? What is your relationship with this film that you felt that you could do that and then did it? Well, I was watching the film a few years ago, and I realized there were quite a few scriptural messages in it. The overriding one is love your neighbor as yourself, and there are quite a few other ones, too, about sacrifice, even smaller messages, such as how to pick out a good spouse and of course Mr. Potter, old man Potter, shows us what an evil life looks like at the end. We have no friends.

You've got money, but you're not happy. So I started writing them down, and over the next few weeks I came up with my favorite 26 messages and put them together into a devotional. And then I invited a really great guy to write the forward to it. Forward by Jordan, Dr. Jordan Peterson. You can read it right there. Ah, we're just kidding. No, this is actually funny because you're being so kind.

But I wrote the forward to this book. It's a Wonderful Life, Advent Devotional by Anne Morse. Because, Anne, you, I mean, this film is so amazing. I mean, of course, you've put it, you've kind of summed it up in this book. But let's tell our audience, because there are going to be young people who are totally unfamiliar with this film. This is one of the greatest films ever made by one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived, Frank Capra. What an amazing, what an amazing filmmaker Frank Capra is. He made Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which is a film that I've written about in my book, if you can keep it.

I mean, this is a man who loved America, who had Christian values, but who lived at a time when you could put that in a film, which is kind of extraordinary. I mean, in a film, that would become a classic. Well, most people would say, it's a Wonderful Life is not a Christian film. Right. But if you go to Frank Kapper's autobiography, he makes the point of saying, I want every man, woman, and child who sees my films to understand that God loves them. And he goes on in that vein. So what's amazing is that people don't realize that.

I met up with somebody at the It's a Wonderful Life Festival, which takes place every December in Seneca Falls, New York, which bears a very striking resemblance to Bedford Falls. And somebody I talked to who actually got kind of upset when I talked about my devotional and the fact that he, Frank Capra, put a lot of Christian messages into it. It's like people who love the Chronicles of Narnia and have no idea that it's an allegory of the Christ story. So they love the movie. they may not like Christians very much, but they love the movie. Well, because people love truth. They just don't know who it is, who is truth.

And sometimes if you give him a name, they say, nah, that can't be right. Well, yes, it actually can be right, and it is right. But so Frank Capra, he was a man of faith. He was a man. I write in the forward to this book, It's a Wonderful Life Advent Devotional, about how he, as a little,

kid coming to this country, how his father pointed to the Statue of Liberty. And so he had this love of this country and a love of freedom. And he expressed these things in his films just so gloriously. And they're fantastic films. Now, we know they're not officially Christian films because Kevin Sorbo is not in them. All right. So when Kevin Sorbo is in the film, then it's officially allowed to be called a Christian film. But this was made in 19, what, 39? No, right after the war, not after the 46. 46. So what is your history with this film? Because you, you know, you've gone to the next level. I mean, I love the film, but you go to this, it's a wonderful life. What's it called? Festival. When did this film become that important to you that you just decided to, you know, do things like that? When I watch films that are really good like this, I sometimes try and imagine what happened to them afterwards. What happened to George Bailey after he came.

came back from Pottersville, that alternate universe. Did he stay satisfied with his life, or after a few days did he think, well, you know, yeah, I have my family, but I'm still stuck here in Bedford Falls. And I ended up writing a novel that takes place. 70 years later, his grandson, who's named after him, has forgotten the lessons of the family. And he is a real estate tycoon in New York, who is not. not very nice to the poor. He represents, he's become potter is what he's become. And he needs the angel Clarence to come back down and straighten his life out the way he did with his grandfather.

Well, I want to be clear. So you've written a novel called Bedford Falls, the story continues. Yes. Bedford Falls, the story continues. Kind of key, folks. Bedford Falls is if you want to know more about this, you can read that. But you, I, I, I, I should have said this when we started. The cover of the book is, of course, a picture of Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed. And the little girl who says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. She plays Zuzu. Okay.

You have met Zuzu. Yeah. She has been kind enough to sell hundreds of copies of my first book. because she travels about the country throughout the year going to fairs and things and speaking about what it was like to work with Jimmy Stewart and of course she was in a lot of other movies too as a child but we meet we've met up a couple times at Seneca Falls

she's a lovely woman I enjoy visiting with her and so what is she now in her 70s I'm gonna try to think she's about 80 okay and her real name is not Zuzu that's the role she plays in the film her real name is Carolyn Grimes, G-R-I-M-E-S, Carolyn with a K. So Carolyn Grimes, you have met her. And so every year she goes to Seneca Falls for this festival. And people love to see her.

Oh, who wouldn't? It's just amazing. Now, is she a woman of faith? Yes, yes, she is. Very faithful. That's pretty cool. So Zuzu became a Christian folks. Headline, Zuzu was born again.

It's really, it's just so heartwarming. Yeah. Well, so let's get into it for folks who don't know the plot of It's a Wonderful Life. What is the shortest version of the plot that you can give? It opens on Christmas Eve with the entire town of Bedford Falls praying for George Bailey, who's in trouble, although that is not quite identified. And an angel comes down, he's sent down, to try to help George Bailey, who's considering suicide, to see that he's really lived a wonderful life.

And then you get the story of his childhood, the fact that he wants to go off to college, and then end up building skyscrapers 100 stories high and bridges a mile wide and so on and so on. And his father dies that night, and he has to stay in Bedford Falls to run the building alone, which his father had started. He doesn't have to, but he knows what will happen if he leaves,

that the meanest man in town, Old Man Potter, as he's called, will basically be running everybody's life and not in a good way. And George spends his life trying to keep Old Man Potter from harming the people of Burr Falls. And let's be clear, Old Man Potter is a type and shadow of George Soros. And I'm really not kidding. It's fascinating how these classic stories, resonate into our own lives. Because we're all supposed to see that God wants us to be like

the Jimmy Stewart character in this film and how we all hear these negative voices that say your life doesn't matter, you can't achieve your dreams, or whatever it is. And how this film, which did not do that spectacularly well when it came out, became one of the classics of our time, because it does resonate so powerfully. And we see it being played out over and over and over again. Just 30 seconds left, so you were giving us the plot. Oh, well, in the end, his Uncle Billy, George's Uncle Billy, who's a bit simple, has managed to lose $8,000 of the building loans of money.

And George, instead of going to his good friend Sam Wainwright, who is rich, goes to the man who hates him, old man Potter, who says, not only am I not going to help you, I'm calling the police and have you arrested. Okay, that's a cliffhanger. When we come back, Anne Morris, more with Anne Morris about It's a Wonderful Life, Advent Devotional, with a forward by Eric Pontaxis. As hard as it may be for us to comprehend here in America, there are people in other parts of the world whose very lives are being threatened simply for believing in Jesus. In fact, people are being enslaved for their faith.

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Patriotmobile.com slash Eric. That's Patriotmobile.com slash Eric or call 972 Patriot. came to my friend Anne Morris about her new book. It's a Wonderful Life Advent Devotional with a forward by yours truly. And Anne, you've written the novel we've talked about it on this program. It's Bedford Falls. The story continues, which imagines what happens after the end of the movie. But let's get back to, you're giving us a synopsis for those folks who haven't had the joy of becoming familiar with this amazing.

film is a wonderful life so george um bailey goes to old man potter and and why does he go to pot i don't even remember why does he's the richest man in town he's the only one who could loan him eight thousand dollars which of course in nineteen forty six uh is worth a great deal yeah you know more than it is today um and he goes off to a bridge and he's thinking of of jumping and you know ending his life giving his wife and kids his life insurance. And then the angel Clarence jumps in so that George will rescue him instead of drowning himself. And George believes that he's wasted his life and things would have been better if he had never lived. And to teach him that his life really had been very worthwhile, Clarence puts him into a sort of, what is the term, an alternate universe, Pottersville, to show him

what the town would be like and the lives of the people would be like if he had never lived. And of course, it's terrible. People all are, well, they're stuck in their, you know, crummy little houses that Old Man Potter built. There are a lot of bad businesses that don't belong in a nice small town. And people are just unhappy. And they just come into the bars to get drunk fast because there's nothing to live for. and his brother is dead because he wasn't there to save him. So lots of things would have been different.

And his wife is now the library and instead of, you know, a happy mother and wife. So he realizes that he has lived a wonderful life and begs Clarence to get him back to Bedford Falls, which he does. And he celebrates with his wife and kids. And the townspeople have been going around with a big basket collecting all the money they can when they find out what has happened so that he doesn't have to go to jail. The money has been replaced. One thing that I found interesting was that Frank Capra was desperately poor. His family was a very poor immigrant family.

And his, I think it's not surprising that for him that most evil person you could have on screen is somebody who was not kind to the poor, someone who takes advantage of the poor. He was willing to throw people out of their houses. if they couldn't pay the rent. And you may remember the scene where George's father says, I can't do that. Some of these people have children. And Potter says they're not my children.

So, and, you know, in the Bible, it says God is angry every day at the things the wicked do. And I put that in that devotional because I thought that's just perfect for that. He does hate the wicked and the way they pray on the innocent. Well, it's amazing. to me really to think about how Capra in his own way, he's a lot like Dickens in the previous century. You know, he has a social conscience. He cares about the poor. He talks about these kinds of things. But what's interesting is it doesn't make him a socialist. On the contrary, it makes him pro-American, pro-Christian. He's able to tell that side of the story

from the actual perspective. And Dickens did it, of course, in his novels. And Capra did it, I guess, mostly in this film, It's a Wonderful Life, but in his other films as well, that he saw, he always had a heart for the underdog. He understood that, I mean, it's kind of funny to think that Jimmy Stewart plays Mr. Smith, and Mr. Smith goes to Washington. and then he plays this role.

There's something about Jimmy Stewart, the good guy, but who has the, there's the dark side where he can lose hope and become bitter and angry. And you really need to be encouraged. We all need to be encouraged. It's a story for everybody. And so I'm just glad that you're using a devotional, you know, to familiarize people with this amazing film.

I still can't believe you know Zuzu. I really can't believe that. Well, but let's get into some of the specifics, Anne, in this devotional. What are some of the things that you touch on in this book? One of my favorite of the devotions has to do with one of the smaller messages of the film, one that could be easily overlooked, and that is the mother of George Bailey versus the mother of Mary Hatch. Mary's mother wants her to marry Sam Wayne.

right um when george comes over to visit her she's uh sam waynwright calls her um what what mary's mother doesn't realize is that george would make a perfect husband he's got all the good qualities he's hardworking he takes care of his mother he's honest he's he's got a sense of humor um sam wayan right is a nice guy but when he calls mary remember he's canoodling with another girl so you have to noodling folks you heard it on a family program yes go ahead and you have to wonder what kind of a husband he would have made. But Mrs. Bailey, George's mother, takes a look at Mary. She's not only is she beautiful, but she has an excellent character

and that she would make a perfect wife for George. So she's in there trying to urge George to go over to Mary's house and says she's the kind of girl that can help you find the answers. And, of course, they do end up married. And she shows how committed she is to the way George wants to live when she's willing to give up her honeymoon. and holds up that $2,000 in the bank that they were going to use on their honeymoon and uses it to bail out the building and loan, which would have gone under.

This is, gosh, there's so much. We'll be right back talking to Anne Morris. The book is It's a Wonderful Life, Advent Devotional. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, lots of course, we'll kiss just as before. Happy will be beyond the sea. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, lots of companies are coming out saying they'll pay for employee abortion travel and expenses. Most of you've heard about some of these companies. You've decided to stop shopping or doing business there, but did you know that you most likely own stock in those companies through your 401Ks, IRAs, and other investment accounts?

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2023, making them the perfect gifts for your friends, your family, and everyone you know. So go to MyPillow.com and use promo code Eric or call 1,800-9-7, and you'll get huge discounts on all MyPillow betting products, including the Giza Dream Bedsheets for as low as 2998, and get all your shopping done now while quantities last. Eric and Save Mypillow.com. Folks, welcome back. We're talking about the film. It's a Wonderful Life.

And I'm talking right now to my friend Anne Morris, who's written a book, An Advent Devotional titled It's a Wonderful Life, Advent Devotional, with a forward by Eric Mataxis. I don't know how they got him, the author of Bonhoeffer. He's so busy. He has no time for this.

But evidently, there's something about this film that is just so amazing. And you were just talking a moment ago about some of the life lessons. I mean, so often you meet people of faith to say, I want to be involved in the arts. And I want to, Frank Kappa is the gold standard that he was in the mainstream in Hollywood

able to communicate beautiful life lessons, God lessons through mainstream film. And you were just sharing about, you know, whom to pick as a story. spouse and character and that guy. So what's some of the other lessons that you have in this book? Well, I think that there are very few lessons in that movie that we cannot apply to our own life. And one of them is, do we ask God what he wants for our lives before we make up our own decisions? And remember at the beginning of the film, as George Bailey is walking Mary Hatch home from the dance

after they'd fallen into the swimming pool, he brags to her, I'm going to be making, you know, skyscrapers, you know, 100 stories high, bridges a mile long. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. I'm going to Europe. And that very night, his father dies. He did not consult God with his plans. He made his plans on his own. God had given him many gifts, you know, creativity and intelligence. And he was able to use them. And God wanted him to use those gifts in Bedford Falls. Remember, he built the swimming pool designed and built the swimming pool under the high school auditorium. And he built all those houses to get people out of Potter's slums. And one of my favorite scenes is when Mr. Martini is so happy, and they're helping him move,

and they've got all the kids in George's car along with the goat and the duck, and they take him over there and celebrate their new home. And then who should show up? But Sam Wainwright, with his fur-draped wife, say, would you like to go to Florida with us? Well, of course, George can't afford that. and he immediately forgets that he has done so much good for that town as he watches Sam and his wife drive off in their fancy car. And if you look at that scene, on either side of the car are rows of the houses that George has built and made possible for the lower income people to live in. And I had never seen that way until I was working on the devotional.

So there's the evidence of what, you know, your life is worth. So, I mean, it's, again, this applies to all of us because there are these, these dark voices in the culture, whispered in our ears about, you know, what we're supposed to, what we think we're supposed to do with our lives. And God is trying to tell us the truth. He's trying to use us. And the story of it's a wonderful life. It's just one of the most extraordinary summations, like a fable of what really matters. And I can hardly think of a film that does what this film does. It's funny that it became such a classic. Now, how did that happen? Because when the film came out, this is another lesson, right? Like, initially, the film goes nowhere. So everybody would say, well, nobody's interested in the films like this.

But God had a plan. And the film gets played. How did it become so famous? Well, what happened was somebody forgot to renew the copyright on the film. And that meant television stations could run it 20 times every Christmas. You could hardly turn the channel without finding it on every channel around Christmas. So Americans became very familiar with it. And oddly enough, that's the first time Zuzu saw the film.

She was a little girl. She was taken to the premiere where she promptly fell asleep because she was a little girl. And she saw it when it was on television. And that was the first time she'd seen it all the way through. So people just fell in love with it. and then the copyright was renewed, so it's only shown once or twice now every Christmas. But I think, yeah, it is very popular now because of that accident.

Isn't that amazing? I mean, you talk about God works all things together for good for those that love the Lord. I mean, here you have somebody forgetting to renew a copyright, a huge screw-up. That leads to the film becoming an American classic. And let's be honest, touching innumerable. lives. How many people have had their lives touched by this and in a moment of loneliness or despair or hopelessness get this message of the film? There was somebody who worked in the Reagan administration who was about to

commit suicide. I cannot remember his name anymore. But he wrote about this. He saw the film and realized that his life had value and he did not commit suicide. I wish I could remember his name. One of the other one of the other themes that I expound on in this has to do with friendship. George Bailey, once he makes a friend, that's his friend for life. Was it Bud McFarlane? It might have been. Bud McFarlane was involved in the Iran-Contra thing, and I think that he's the person you're referring to.

Yeah. And Zuzu has gotten many letters from people along those lines. My life was going badly, and then I saw the movie, and things changed. So the movie is still having a tremendous effect. on people even though it's what 75, 76 years old. The book talks about friendship. And a lot of people today, as I was trying to think what I would say in that devotion, they move away. We move around a lot in America. People start getting successful and they start dropping friends that they had in high school or caught at college. And maybe it's not deliberate, but it happens. You have shiny new

friends that are also very successful and rich. But then something happens, say, one of your children gets arrested or dies of a drug overdose. You don't go to the new shiny friends. You go back to your old friends who know you, and they're the ones that can comfort you. So his lesson is, you know, old man like Mr. Gower, the druggist that he's saved from poisoning a child. He's an old man, even when George is a boy. Right. He's, they're friends, they're good friends. And then Mr. Martini, who runs the pub, gets angry at Welch, the schoolteacher's husband when he slugs George for being rude to his wife. And he said, you just hit my best friend.

Get out of here. You know, children are fond of him. Violet Bick, the town, bad girl. When she wants to start over in New York, she goes to George Bailey, who is surely aware of her reputation, just as everybody else in town is. But he treats her with kindness and respect. and she says, I'm so glad I know you, George Bailey. This is so beautiful.

Folks are going to go to break. Final segment coming up with Anne Morris. You can spell Morris. Anne Morris is the author of It's a Wonderful Life Advent Devotional. What a great film. We'll be right back. Folks, welcome back. We're talking to Anne Morris, who has a book called It's a Wonderful Life Advent

Devotional. The lessons, amazing lessons, biblical lessons from this great, classic American film. Any final thoughts? Any final lessons that we haven't covered? Yes. We are all here to try to improve our towns. I can't think of the word I mean. To preserve and protect our towns. George Bailey protects his town from Old Man Potter. And he improves the town by building all those houses and helping people in any way he can. There's also the matter of jealousy. I think he's a little bit jealous of Sam.

Right. God had his plans for Sam, which were almost identical to what George Bailey thinks he wants in his life. He goes to college. He gets to travel. Remember, he's calling from London. Right. He sends that telegram saying, give George $25,000 if he needs it. You know, he's wealthy.

and George is the one stuck back in Bedford Falls. But again, all things work together for good, for them that love God. Sam is there to bail George out when he gets into trouble. George's role is to stay in Bedford Falls and protect people. And Sam's role is to help George in any way that he can. What is the line from the film? I never remember the exact line, but the... He-ha.

No, no, no, I was just going to get to that. No, the line about, you know, the richest man is the one who has the most friends type of thing. Oh, yeah. That's the message he gets at the very, very end when the bell rings. And there's the book Tom Sawyer in which Clarence had written, remember George, no man is a failure who has friends. And that is very true in his life. His friends saved him in the end.

and they were glad to do so because he had done so much for them over the years. And they all knew that he'd sacrificed education and travel because it was more important for him to honor his father's business and to take care of the people of Bedford Falls. Well, it's amazing. His brother toasts him at the end of the film. And he says, a toast to my big brother, George, the richest man in town.

it's just so moving because we know these things are true. This is true. This is truth. And we need in this dark world to hear this over and over again to remind each other of what is true because everything tells us the opposite. And so it's amazing to me that Frank Kapper managed to make a film like this. I don't remember where the script came from. Was it based on a book? or did some? There's a very small book that a man had written, was not able to get it published,

and so he simply sent the story to a lot of friends at Christmas. And one of them got it into the hands of Frank Capra, and he said, this is the story I've been looking for all my life. I mean, can we believe this? This is, it really is, if you want to know how God works, in this interview here we've been talking about, it's just these extraordinary ways that God works, using the mistake of somebody not renewing a copyright to blast this message of hope to millions and millions and millions of people resulting in it becoming a classic. It's a wonderful life, obviously, the film. Well, Anne, I'm just so glad you wrote this book. I'm glad you wrote your previous book about Bedford Falls.

I'm glad that we got to talk about it today. The book, folks, it's a wonderful life Advent devotional by Anne. Morris with a forward by Eric Metaxis. That can't be right. Ann Morris, God bless you. Thanks for coming into the studio.