Netherlandic parliamentarian Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876) concluded that a nation can be built on rock or sand. He sorted through years of documents comparing the spirit of the people with the development of the nation. He discovered that when divine sovereignty was replaced by humanistic arbitrary decisions, it led to revolutionary trends in society. He spent the rest of his life writing about and resisting this trend. His life was not easy but hopeful. Groen's ideas are growing in importance as they bridge a greater time period. Building a Nation... challenges us to make our participation in society most meaningful.