SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — “Rocky Raccoon checked into his room, only to find Gideon’s Bible.”
Paul McCartney explained those famous lines in the song by The Beatles, saying these Bibles “were in every hotel in America.” He’d never seen something like that in England.
For more than a century, countless have found it in the bedside drawers of American hotel and motel rooms. It has become a symbol of America’s roadside culture and Protestant tradition. It’s mentioned in lyrics, films, Broadway shows.
“The Gideon Bible is a peculiarly and amazingly American object,” says Lori Anne Ferrell, author of “The Bible and the People.”
It began with Gideons International, an organization of evangelical business and professional men founded in 1899.
One of its members, working on a railroad expansion project, gets off the train in the town of Superior in western Montana, and checks into a hotel. He asks the owner if he can place a Bible at the front desk. She responds with a more ambitious proposal: Place a Bible in each of the hotel rooms.
The group says that it has distributed more than 2.5 billion Bibles worldwide since that day in 1908. It was the year that Ford Motor Co. began manufacturing the Model T, the first low-priced car that introduced motoring to the masses.
“All of a sudden, we have the road culture, the interstate culture, we have motels, and we have, for the first time, people leaving home,” Ferrell says. “There’s a story about America with the Gideon Bible that you can’t tell with any other Bible because it’s distributed everywhere, and it represents the movement of people across the country.”
Gideon Bibles have been distributed in prisons, military bases, hospitals, even the White House. In a 1971 ceremony, the group presented its 100 millionth Bible to President Richard Nixon.
“It’s an expression of biblicism — the idea that the Bible it’s from God to you. And it’s all you need … and that biblicism is a deep element in American culture,” says Timothy K. Beal, author of “Roadside Religion: In Search of the Sacred, the Strange, and the Substance of Faith.”
Over the years, its distribution in schools faced challenges. Its presence diminished as the number of U.S. hotels that offer religious materials in their rooms dropped.
Still, it remains the religious book that quietly seeks to provide comfort in the most secular of settings — and that, even with the advent of the TV and Wi-Fi, sits in motel nightstands across America and endures.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.
A Gideon Bible sits on a table in Phoenix, Sunday Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
FILE - A bible sits on a stained mattress on a pile of debris outside a damaged motel from Hurricane Michael in Panama City, Fla, Jan. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
A Gideon Bible sits on a table in Phoenix, Sunday Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Christian Gonzalez is back practicing with the New England Patriots.
But the star cornerback remains without the long-term contract extension he's been seeking all offseason with the regular season two weeks away.
Gonzalez returned to practice Monday after being sidelined since Aug. 10 with a minor injury, according to coach Mike Vrabel. He was back in uniform for the team’s workout on Tuesday, its last before heading to Cleveland to prepare for the Patriots’ final preseason game Thursday night.
Gonzalez wouldn't confirm whether his absence was because of the injury and not related to the ongoing negotiations between the front office and his agents.
“I'm not going to get into that,” Gonzalez said. “I'm out here now. So it is what it is.”
New England’s projected starters sat out the first two preseason games and it’s unclear how much — if at all — they will play this week.
Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said Tuesday that team owner Robert Kraft’s statement in July about offering Gonzalez a deal to make him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history remains the team’s desire. Gonzalez is playing under the rookie deal he signed in 2023. He will make a base salary of $2.25 million this season and $18.1 million in 2027, the final year of the deal.
“We want him here,” Wolf said. “He’s an elite player. Been on record saying that before and we continue to work with his representation to find a resolution that works for everyone.”
Asked of trading Gonzalez was a consideration, vice president player personnel Ryan Cowden didn't directly rule it out.
“I think we're continuing to work on the negotiation side with Christian and that's where it stands,” he said.
Earlier this month, Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon received a four-year, $132 million contract extension with $101 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid player at his position in the league.
Gonzalez acknowledged at least some frustration with seeing other situations getting worked out around the league.
“It's frustrating. But I'm focused on the season. I'm focused on here now and doing what I have to do,” he said. “I'm out here to compete and get better.”
Wolf wouldn’t elaborate on the potential barriers to completing a deal with Gonzalez, though he said both sides are clear on what the other wants.
The Patriots open at Seattle on Sept. 9 in a rematch of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl 60 win in February.
But Wolf doesn’t view that Week 1 matchup as a deadline for the negotiations with Gonzalez.
“We’re just kind of taking it a day at a time right now. We haven’t set a deadline,” Wolf said.
Asked if he plans to play in the season opener without a new contract, Gonzalez neither committed to it nor ruled it out.
“I'm focused on today, on this practice,” he said. “And we'll see where we go from here.”
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez catches a pass during an NFL football training camp, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf gestures during a media availability prior to an NFL football training camp, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez catches a pass during an NFL football training camp, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
