I was having lunch with a seminary colleague a few years ago whose church had called a new senior minister.
I asked him what he thought of him. He answered, “Well, actually I think he might be better than we deserve.”
As Thanksgiving approaches, a time to pause and give thanks for our collective life as a nation and not just our own personal lives, what my friend said about his new minister is the way I feel about President Biden.
I’m thinking he just may be a better president than we deserve.
He wouldn’t say that about himself, not because he’s too humble, though he is a humble man, but because, ironically, he thinks too highly of the American people who seem to think so little of him.
On a purely rational level, this makes no sense. In virtually every category that matters, from the economy to international relations to political stability, Biden has achieved more than any president in recent history.
More than that, he has done so while coping with an ailing economy, ongoing political chaos caused by Donald Trump, a Russian invasion of Ukraine, a war in the Middle East, and a Republican Congress whose only goal is to tear him down.
Through it all, he has kept his head, acted like an adult leader instead of a spoiled adolescent, refused to show public disgust at a news media that seems determined to highlight every flaw he has while ignoring his accomplishments, and has never lost confidence in us, the American people.
So, yes, he just might be a better president than we deserve.
The truth is, as we approach Thanksgiving Day, I doubt there are many Americans, if any, who will pause long enough to think about how fortunate we are to have Joe Biden as President.
They won’t think that he may be old, but he is wise, may not be charismatic, but is steady and reliable, may not be a great orator, but means what he says and says what he means.
No, if they think about him at all, they will likely blame him for anything and everything they don’t like about their own lives or what’s going on in the country.
Many even say they prefer the man who wanted to destroy our democracy and establish himself as permanent president as if it makes sense to give him another chance to finish the job.
It boggles the mind.
At the end of his truly historic second meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping on Wednesday, another stunning accomplishment for him, the President said, “The strongest tools we have to meet this era’s challenges are connection, cooperation, collective action, and common purpose. That’s why we’re all here.”
That is Joe Biden, a man who seeks to bridge differences by finding common ground, working for the good of all, never letting past differences determine future relations.
All I can say is, I thank God he is our President.
It is often the case that you don’t realize what you have until you don’t have it any longer.
My fear is that this is precisely the situation we will be facing as a nation on Thanksgiving a year from now.
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