Ruminations 97: "The LORD is my strength and my shield. . . and with my song will I praise him"; Joe Biden's Thanksgiving 2020 Address

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 Americans have a taste for drama.  With every change of political party the Manichean struggle between the forces of light and those of darkness appears ready for the final confrontation.  And yet it is a society in which the forces of light are also dark, and those of darkness shed light.  The Manichean quality of American discourse is most sharply drawn at those moments of political transition from one aggregation  of forces to the other. And yet, both oppositional forces--as much as they despise the other--tend to draw from the same well, and feed on the same founding vision--even if to opposite effect. And that well, that source--the Jewish and Christian Bibles (I refrain from the more judgemental appellations Old and New Testaments)--remains very much  source of guidance in times of trouble in the United States. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the inaugural speeches of Presidents, especially those who appear to incarnate a clear triumph of one vision (if only narrowly triumphant as is customary within the legal structures under which American politics is managed) over the other.  (Ruminations 69/Democracy Part 38: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!": On President Trump's Inaugural Speech)

Thus, at the start of the Presidency of Donald Trump, I examined (Ruminations 69/Democracy Part 38: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"), as I had eight years earlier at the start of a far different Presidency (Democracy Part XIV: “For Now We See Through A Glass, Darkly; But Then Face to Face”; On President Obama's Inauguration Speech) what the inevitable choice of the key Biblical passage  would tell us about the moral view of the person who would occupy the presidency.  "President Lincoln had a preference for the Evangelists. President Obama chose Paul, that great Jewish architect of Christianity." (Democracy Part XIV: “For Now We See Through A Glass, Darkly). President Trump chose the Prophets and Psalms. and specifically Isaiah 42:6, Jeremiah 31:31-33, and Psalm 133.

This year that process of drawing at the well, of pointing us to the incarnation of the the values of the next four years, started early.  Mr. Biden, weeks away from formal selection, but confident of that selection in the face of the relentless recounting that has gone his way, delivered an address to the nation on the eve of Thanksgiving.  It was one designed to introduce himself and his presidency.  It likely served as a dress rehearsal for his January inauguration speech, and a foreshadowing of its themes--and thus the themes of the Presidency for the next four years.  

More importantly, Mr. Biden's choice of foundational Biblical passages, suggests the aspirational moral centering that may well mark the initial phase of the presumptive presidency of its 46th holder. Mr. Biden chose Psalms 28. This is a plea, a supplication; it is the earnest surrender to a higher power from one seeking a return from exile, and fearful of straying, but one that centers communication, between the divine and the human whose existence manifests a spiritually correct course. It is a plea rising from the testing of a global pandemic, and manifested through the unending and quite bitter contest between two (at least two) quite different visions of righteousness and its manifestation within a political community.  But it is also a plea, a supplication, for guidance from above (in this case perhaps of the genius of the American people manifested in its political order): should the new presidency mark a restoration--a national determination to attempt (foolishly but then that would not be the first time) to erase the 45th Presidency from history, or  should it mark (a continuation?) of reform, but this time informed by a quite different perspective arsing from the same national will.

It is to that plea, to that supplication, wrapped around the first address of the president presumptive, that this post considers on this Thanksgiving Day. The full text of Mr. Biden's Thanksgiving Address then follows. For more conventional consensus analysis see here, here, and here. That conventional analysis, fixated on the pragmatic challenge of the pandemic, might have missed a deeper and likely more important message of Mr. Biden for the next four years. Time will tell.

 

Palms 28 is quite short and elegant in the style of a supplication, a plea, by those humbled in the face of transgression (for a more conventional analysis of Psalm 28 from within faith communities here). 

The Lord is My Strength

1{A Psalm of David.} Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

2Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

3Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.

4Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.

5Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

6Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

8The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

9Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

But is is more than a simple plea, it is in its essence about the connection between "correct" conduct--righteousness, and  the Divine, a connection that is signified by communication. It is, in a sense, a supplication for communion through the language of divine convergence, one that can only be attained, and then maintained, by righteous conduct. Communion with the Divine, communication (the expression of that communion), and the acts of righteousness (the performance of communion), that is the essence of the circular relationship at the heart of Psalm 28--and in the plea that Me. Biden makes to the Nation. It is the richness and nuance of that interrelationship between conduct as performance and as a communication that serves as the foundation of the detail that makes up the entirety of the speech.  It is a not just a plea (described in the detailed aspirations of the speech) but also an effort to affirm and characterize the significance of that which is understood within a faith community to be right and righteous, an excellent wisdom, a holy wisdom ( Ἁγία Σοφία hagia sofia). And it is in that performance of holy wisdom that Mr. Biden seeks to produce a vision of solidarity for a bringing together a hysterically  divided nation.

Nonetheless, Mr. Biden centers that supplication, uttered at the end of his remarks, on a chopped up portion of one verse (28:7); "The LORD is my strength and my shield[; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;] and with my song will I praise him." Its central core connection is with "healing"--healing rifts, coming together, engaging in communication, and transforming that communication. The various forms that this would take--the acts of righteousness described in various specific forms addressed earlier in his remarks--would ten produce the expression of communication that would close the circuit of community and manifest a  holy wisdom communicated through acts of solidarity: "let us dream again. Let us commit ourselves to thinking not only of ourselves but of others."(Thanksgiving Address). 

And there is the oddity--for how can one engage in acts that will manifest the divine, the righteous, without a trust in the manifestation of the holy (and holy here understood in terms of the political and civic model which serves as the national holy wisdom, its Ἁγία Σοφία hagia sofia)? Trust is a central element of the Psalm: "Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts" (28:3). Psalm 28 certainly serves as a supplication--but one of union with the Divine.  It is also a declaration of trust in the divine and a rejection of that which cannot be trusted--those who do not trust in the Divine, the workers of iniquity, those who are denied the possibility of communicating righteousness.  And here, if one hears what Mr. Biden is saying carefully, is a reference Divine abandonment (famously Psalm 22:1 ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?)).  Here is a song, but one unlike that of Psalm 28--and it is the lamentation that is the opposite side of the supplication which Mr. Biden frames as his Thanksgiving address. But it is also a reference to Saul--the man divinely anointed King of Israel, who, having turned away from the Divine, who had mischief in his heart, lost the mandate of heaven. 

22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (I Samuel 15:22-23).

Mr. Biden speaks here of Mr. Trump; and of his followers. There is no trust.  There is no community. The Lord is Mr. Biden's strength and his shield; Mr. Biden will sing the praises of a supplication well received.  But implicit is an indictment of mischief, of wickedness, and the implication that the Lord will not show the Divine face, will withdraw from communication with, those who engage in iniquity. The supplication, then, becomes one of coming to the Lord. That is an invitation deeply embedded in the rejection of Saul and the direction to Israel's Prophet, Samuel, to recognize a new king of Israel: "Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons” (I Samuel 16:1). The implication, deeply buried and coded, is unavoidable. The supplication is one that, like the sword and shield of the Lord, and the singing of praise in the reflection of divine wisdom, can be made only by those who reject the wickedness of the past and embrace what is right--but right as understood through the holy wisdom of the United States, the incarnation of the divine spirit of its people. And as close as this Republic will get a a God.

 

So much from so little. But then that is the nature of communication--the essence of the insights of Psalm 28. For those willing to take Mr. Biden's language seriously, there is much here to think about. There is much here that points to the fundamental approach of the incoming president and the way that administration will relate to itself, to others, and to its predecessors. Mr. Biden speak here of a return: "In our finest hours, that’s who we’ve always been, and it’s who we shall be again, for I believe that this grim season of division and demonization will give way to a year of light and unity" (Thanksgiving Address).  Mr. Biden speak to the United States as a covenantal society: "We should be thankful, too, that America is a covenant and an unfolding story. We have what we need to create prosperity, opportunity and justice: Americans have grit and generosity, a capacity for greatness and reservoirs of goodness.We have what it takes. Now we must act. And this is our moment — ours together — to write a newer, bolder, more compassionate chapter in the life of our nation."  (Thanksgiving Address). And yet its covenantal foundations remain contested if not their principles then their origins and the remnant of those who produced it (e.g.Ruminations 96: On or About the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower Landing in What Will Become Known as Massachusetts). And it is one in which the spirit of the Lord speaks through the election process: "In this election year, we have seen record numbers of Americans exercise their most sacred right — that of the vote — to register their will at the ballot box. . . .If you want to know what beats deep in the heart of America, it’s this: democracy. The right to determine our lives, our government, our leaders. The right to be heard.Our democracy was tested this year. And what we learned is this: The people of this nation are up to the task" (Thanksgiving Address).  The power of the foundational element of the US political model is reaffirmed, reduced to its mythic essence--a necessary reductive essentialism for the affirmation of the American political catechism (but see, e.g.,

And thus Mr. Biden's supplication:

Now we must act. And this is our moment — ours together — to write a newer, bolder, more compassionate chapter in the life of our nation. . . . The work ahead will not be easy. And it will not be quick. You want solutions, not shouting. Reason, not hyper-partisanship. Light, not heat. You want us to hear one another again, see one another again, respect one another again. You want us — Democrats and Republicans and Independents — to come together and work together. . . . Americans dream big. Our future is bright. In fact, I have never been more optimistic about the future of America than I am right now. I believe the 21st Century is going to be an American Century. We are going to build an economy that leads the world. We are going to lead the world by the power of our example — not the example of our power. We are going to lead the world on climate and save the planet. We are going to find cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s and diabetes. And we are going to finally root out systemic racism in our country. On this Thanksgiving, and in anticipation of all the Thanksgivings to come, let us dream again. Let us commit ourselves to thinking not only of ourselves but of others. (Thanksgiving Address)

And Mr. Biden's song of praise in the divine spirit of the United States:

Here’s the America I see, and I believe it’s the America you see, too: An America that faces facts. An America that overcomes challenges. An America where we seek justice and equality for all people.An America that holds fast to the conviction that out of pain comes possibility; out of frustration, progress; out of division, unity.In our finest hours, that’s who we’ve always been, and it’s who we shall be again, for I believe that this grim season of division and demonization will give way to a year of light and unity.Why do I think so? Because America is a nation not of adversaries, but of neighbors. Not of limitation, but of possibility. Not of dreams deferred, but of dreams realized. I’ve said it many times: This is a great country and we are a good people.This is the United States of America. (Thanksgiving Address)

The address, then, provides us the first prayer of the presumptive next president of the Republic.  It is likely not to be the last.  It speaks to pain, to wickedness, to adversity, and to the long road for iniquity to the state of righteousness for the purpose of which those who are elected from time to time are anointed.

_______________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 25, 2020 Thanksgiving Address as Prepared for Delivery by President-elect Joe Biden inWilmington, Delaware My fellow Americans: Thanksgiving is a special time in America. A time to reflect on what the year has brought, and to think about what lies ahead.

The first national day of Thanksgiving, authorized by the Continental Congress, took place on December 18th, 1777. It was celebrated by General George Washington and his troops at Gulph Mills on the way to Valley Forge. It took place under harsh conditions and deprivations — lacking food, clothing, shelter. They were preparing to ride out a long hard winter. Today, you can find a plaque in Gulph Mills marking that moment. It reads in part — “This Thanksgiving in spite of the suffering-showed the reverence and character that was forging the soul of a nation.” Forging the soul of a nation. Faith, courage, sacrifice, service to country, service to each other, and gratitude even in the face of suffering, have long been part of what Thanksgiving means in America.

Looking back over our history you’ll see that it’s been in the most difficult of circumstances that the soul of our nation has been forged. Now, we find ourselves again facing a long, hard winter. We have fought a nearly year-long battle with a virus in this nation. It’s brought us pain and loss and frustration, and it has cost so many lives. 260,000 Americans — and counting. It has divided us. Angered us. And set us against one another.

I know the country has grown weary of the fight. But we need to remember we’re at a war with a virus — not with each other.

This is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts, and recommit ourselves to the fight. Let’s remember — we are all in this together.

For so many of us, it’s hard to hear that this fight isn’t over, that we still have months of this battle ahead of us. And for those who have lost loved ones, I know this time of year is especially difficult. Believe me, I know. I remember that first Thanksgiving. The empty chair, the silence. It takes your breath away.

It’s hard to care. It’s hard to give thanks. It’s hard to look forward. And it’s so hard to hope. I understand. I will be thinking and praying for each and every one of you at our Thanksgiving table because we’ve been there. This year, we’re asking Americans to forego many of the traditions that have long made this holiday such a special one. For our family, we’ve had a 40 plus year tradition of traveling over Thanksgiving, a tradition we’ve kept every year save one — the year after our son Beau died. But this year, we’ll be staying home.

We have always had big family gatherings at Thanksgiving. Kids, grandkids, aunts, uncles, and more. For the Bidens, the days around Thanksgiving have always been a time to remember all we had to be grateful for, and a time to welcome the Christmas Season. But this year, because we care so much for each other, we’re going to be having separate Thanksgivings. For Jill and I, we’ll be at home in Delaware with our daughter and son-in-law.

So, I know. I know how hard it is to forego family traditions, but it is so very important. Our country is in the middle of a dramatic spike in cases. We’re now averaging over 160,000 new cases a day. And no one will be surprised if we hit 200,000 cases in a single day.

Many local health systems are at risk of being overwhelmed. That is the plain and simple truth, and I believe you deserve to always hear the truth from your president.

We have to try to slow the growth of the virus. We owe that to the doctors, the nurses, and the other front-line health care workers who have risked so much and heroically battled this virus for so long. We owe that to our fellow citizens who will need access to hospital beds and the care to fight this disease. And we owe it to one another — it’s our patriotic duty as Americans. That means wearing masks, keeping social distancing, and limiting the size of any groups we’re in.

Until we have a vaccine, these are our most effective tools to combat the virus. Starting on Day One of my presidency, we will take steps that will change the course of the disease. More testing will find people with cases and get them away from other people, slowing the number of infections. More protective gear for businesses and schools will do the same — reducing the number of cases. Clear guidance will get more businesses and more schools open. We all have a role to play in beating this crisis. The federal government has vast powers to combat this virus. And I commit to you I will use all those powers to lead a national coordinated response. But the federal government can’t do it alone. Each of us has a responsibility in our own lives to do what we can to slow the virus.

Every decision we make matters. Every decision we make can save a life. None of these steps we’re asking people to take are political statements. Every one of them is based in science. The good news is, that there has been significant, record-breaking progress made recently in developing a vaccine. Several of these vaccines look to be extraordinarily effective. And it appears that we are on track for the first immunizations to begin by late December or early January.

Then, we will need to put in place a distribution plan to get the entire country immunized as soon as possible, which we will do. But it’s going to take time.

I’m hoping the news of a vaccine will serve as an incentive to every American to take these simple steps to get control of this virus.

There is real hope, tangible hope. So hang on. Don’t let yourself surrender to the fatigue. I know we can and we will beat this virus. America is not going to lose this war. You will get your lives back. Life is going to return to normal. That will happen. This will not last forever. So yes, this has been a hard year, but I still believe we have much to be thankful for. Much to hope for. Much to build upon. Much to dream of.

Here’s the America I see, and I believe it’s the America you see, too: An America that faces facts. An America that overcomes challenges. An America where we seek justice and equality for all people. An America that holds fast to the conviction that out of pain comes possibility; out of frustration, progress; out of division, unity. In our finest hours, that’s who we’ve always been, and it’s who we shall be again, for I believe that this grim season of division and demonization will give way to a year of light and unity. Why do I think so? Because America is a nation not of adversaries, but of neighbors.

Not of limitation, but of possibility. Not of dreams deferred, but of dreams realized. I’ve said it many times: This is a great country and we are a good people. This is the United States of America. And there has never been anything we haven’t been able to do when we’ve done it together. Think of what we’ve come through: centuries of human enslavement; a cataclysmic Civil War; the exclusion of women from the ballot box; World Wars; Jim Crow; a long twilight struggle against

Soviet tyranny that could have ended not with the fall of the Berlin Wall, but in nuclear Armageddon. I’m not naïve. I know that history is just that: history.

But to know what’s come before can help arm us against despair. Knowing the previous generations got through the same universal human challenges that we face: the tension between selfishness and generosity, between fear and hope, between division and unity.

And what was it that brought the reality of America into closer alignment with its promise of equality, justice, and prosperity? It was love. Plain and simple. Love of country and love for one another. We don’t talk much about love in our politics. The public arena is too loud, too angry, too heated.

To love our neighbors as ourselves is a radical act, yet it’s what we’re called to do. And we must try, for only in trying, only in listening, only in seeing ourselves as bound together in what Dr. King called a “mutual garment of destiny” can we rise above our divisions and truly heal. America has never been perfect. But we’ve always tried to fulfill the aspiration of the Declaration of Independence: that all people are created equal, created in the image of God. And we have always sought “to form that more perfect union.” What should we give thanks for in this season? First, let us be thankful for democracy itself. In this election year, we have seen record numbers of Americans exercise their most sacred right — that of the vote — to register their will at the ballot box. Think about that. In the middle of a pandemic, more people voted this year than have ever voted in the history of America.

Over 150 million people cast a ballot. That is simply extraordinary. If you want to know what beats deep in the heart of America, it’s this: democracy. The right to determine our lives, our government, our leaders. The right to be heard. Our democracy was tested this year. And what we learned is this: The people of this nation are up to the task. In America, we have full and fair and free elections, and then we honor the results. The people of this nation and the laws of the land won’t stand for anything else.

Through the vote — the noblest instrument of nonviolent protest ever conceived — we are reminded anew that progress is possible. That “We the People” have the power to change what Jefferson called “the course of human events.”

That with our hearts and hands and voices, today can be better than yesterday, and tomorrow can be better still.

We should be thankful, too, that America is a covenant and an unfolding story. We have what we need to create prosperity, opportunity and justice: Americans have grit and generosity, a capacity for greatness and reservoirs of goodness. We have what it takes. Now we must act. And this is our moment — ours together — to write a newer, bolder, more compassionate chapter in the life of our nation.

The work ahead will not be easy. And it will not be quick. You want solutions, not shouting. Reason, not hyper-partisanship. Light, not heat. You want us to hear one another again, see one another again, respect one another again. You want us — Democrats and Republicans and Independents — to come together and work together. And that, my friends, is what I am determined to do. Americans dream big.

And, as hard as it may seem this Thanksgiving, we are going to dream big again. Our future is bright. In fact, I have never been more optimistic about the future of America than I am right now. I believe the 21st Century is going to be an American Century. We are going to build an economy that leads the world. We are going to lead the world by the power of our example — not the example of our power.

We are going to lead the world on climate and save the planet. We are going to find cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

And we are going to finally root out systemic racism in our country. On this Thanksgiving, and in anticipation of all the Thanksgivings to come, let us dream again. Let us commit ourselves to thinking not only of ourselves but of others.

For if we care for one another — if we open our arms rather than brandish our fists — we can, with God’s help, heal. And if we do, and I am sure we can, we can proclaim with the Psalmist who wrote: “The Lord is my strength and my shield ... and with my song I give thanks to him.” And I give thanks now: for you and for the trust you have placed in me. Together, we will lift our voices in the coming months and years, and our song shall be of lives saved,

breaches repaired, and a nation made whole. From the Biden family to yours, wherever and however you may be celebrating, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. God bless you, and may God protect our troops. ###