{"id":155261,"date":"2023-02-02T16:45:19","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T00:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=155261"},"modified":"2023-02-02T16:45:19","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T00:45:19","slug":"president-biden-at-the-national-prayer-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=155261","title":{"rendered":"President Biden at the National Prayer Breakfast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you, Lucy, for that introduction and, I might add, as I said last year, for your courage.  You know, like many of you in the audience, Lucy lost a piece of her soul, and \u2014 and it\u2019s \u2014 you know, while the pain never fully leaves, you eventually find the purpose to carry on, and that\u2019s what you\u2019ve done.  You\u2019ve done it magnificently. And you\u2019re doing it with your service in the Congress, and we\u2019re a better nation because you\u2019ve kept the faith. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e8zqxQ1TDUw\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the reference \u2014 (applause) \u2014 the reference to my grandmom was: Every time I\u2019d walk out of my Grandfather Finnegan\u2019s house in Scranton, he\u2019d yell, \u201cJoey, keep the faith.\u201d  And my grandmother would yell, \u201cNo, Joey, spread it.  Spread it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You do a heck of a job.  My God, you\u2019re beautiful, beautiful, beautiful (inaudible).  (Applause.)  No, really, you\u2019re magnificent.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank the other leaders here at the breakfast: Representative Tim Walberg; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Mike Rounds \u2014 Mike, it\u2019s good to see you \u2014 we used to sit there together a lot in the past; and former Senator Mark Pryor.  And he and his dad and I also spent an awful lot of time together. <\/p>\n<p>And I applaud your work to make a more intimate gathering, bringing back to its roots, but I understand we got a bunch of folks at a hotel not far from here.  How many?<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE WALBERG:  About 1,300.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  About 1,300.  They apparently are watching this.  Welcome.  Welcome to all 1,300.  And the House invites you to come to the floor today \u2014 all 1,300 of you.  (Laughter.)  No, I\u2019m teasing.  I\u2019m teasing.  Sorry.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But, I\u2019m grateful you\u2019re able to be \u2014 join us in prayer this morning and lift up one another and \u2014 and our nation \u2014 and our nation.<\/p>\n<p>And I want to thank Vice President Harris and Speaker McCarthy and Minority Leader Jeffries. <\/p>\n<p>And I also want to thank Bishop McKenzie. <\/p>\n<p>And, Pastor, I \u2014 I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m a little worried how you got this whole \u2014 this whole choir here.  I\u2019m \u2014 I tell you what: You \u2014 I think you got a \u2014 well, I won\u2019t go into that.  At any rate \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 but the incredible \u2014 the incredible Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers, I tell you.<\/p>\n<p>St. Augustine, of my church \u2014 a Catholic Church \u2014 would say that \u201csinging is praying twice.\u201d  And I can only pray once because I couldn\u2019t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>My father used to \u2014 when he was in high school \u2014 he didn\u2019t go to college, but in his college years, had a band.  And he could sing.  He played the saxophone.  And \u2014 and he could dance.  And he used to say to me, \u201cJoey, I don\u2019t know where you come from.\u201d  (Laughter.)  He said, \u201cYou have no lip.  You can\u2019t play a reed instrument, number one.  Number two, you have two left feet.  Number three, you can\u2019t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow.  But I still love you.\u201d  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, I\u2019ve attended many prayer breakfasts over the years with the nation struggling and in strife, and also in times of peace and prosperity.  And I\u2019m honored to continue the tradition started by President Eisenhower, I\u2019m told, that \u2014 that \u2014 for presidents to come and speak to the prayer breakfast.<\/p>\n<p>Just before Christmas, I offered a message to the country \u2014 a message that is at the heart of the Christian faith, but yet is universal \u2014 a universal message of hope, of joy, of love.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re Christian, whether you\u2019re Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or any other faith, or no faith at all, it speaks to all of us as human beings who are here on this Earth primarily to care for our \u2014 one another; look \u2014 look out for one another; and to love one another.  And it\u2019s not always easy.  It\u2019s hard.  But that\u2019s \u2014 that\u2019s our \u2014 our mission.<\/p>\n<p>The message is always important, but especially important during tough times like what we\u2019ve been through the last three, four, five years.  The pandemic that\u2019s taken so much from us, from so many people.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve lost so much with one another.  We lost so many people.  Over a million lives lost in America alone.  A million lives lost.  And they say for every one life lost, there are nine significant people who were \u2014 cared greatly about that lost person.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve seen record bouts of extreme weather claiming lives and destroying homes all across the country.  I\u2019ve taken more \u2014 as the Vice President can tell you \u2014 more helicopter rides this last year and half than you can imagine.  More timber has burned down in the West, in the Northwest, and even in the Southeast \u2014 the Southwest than the entire state of Missouri.  There\u2019s just enormous damage. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s violence in our communities, like the mass shooting during the Lunar New Year at Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. <\/p>\n<p>And Trey [sic] Nichols \u2014 excuse me, Ty- \u2014 Tyre Nichols and his family and the community in Memphis are \u2014 there \u2014 justice is long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>Look, in our politics and our lives, we too often see each other as opponents and not competitors.  We see each other as enemies, not neighbors.  And as tough as these times have been, if we look closer, we see the strength, the determination that has long defined America.<\/p>\n<p>Look, you know, we \u2014 as we look to the new year \u2014 my friend, Chris Coons, is out there \u2014 I see Chris; how you doing, pal? \u2014 who went to law school and got a divinity degree at the same time. <\/p>\n<p>And he offers this wisdom.  I thought it was really incredible what you said, Chris.  You said, \u201cLet\u2019s continue the practice of the ministry of presence.\u201d  The ministry of presence.  Being present not just for yourself but for one another.  That\u2019s what\u2019s expected of those of us in public service \u2014 the ministry of presence.<\/p>\n<p>That means being there for one another.  But, you know, there are those in the greatest need who are looking to us.  They\u2019ve elected us to help them \u2014 to really look at each other not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as who we really are \u2014 as fellow Americans, fellow human beings worthy of being treated with dignity and respect. <\/p>\n<p>Because when we\u2019re present in our lives \u2014 when we\u2019re present in our lives, we find there\u2019s so much more that unites us, in my view.  So much more that unites us than divides us.<\/p>\n<p>And while we have profound differences, the last two years have proven we can come together to do big things for the country.  We can join hands and get things done.  We can redeem the soul of America. <\/p>\n<p>And what\u2019s the soul of the nation?  Well, the soul is the breath, the life, the essence of who we are.  The soul makes us \u201cus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s embodied in the sacred proposition that we\u2019re all created equally in the image of God.  A sacred proposition rooted in the Scripture and enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.  A sacred proposition that Dr. King invoked when he told us about his dream for the nation \u2014 a dream I thought about deeply last month when I \u2014 would\u2019ve been Dr. King\u2019s 94th birthday.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Warnock \u2014 Reverend Warnock invited me to speak at a Sunday service at Dr. King\u2019s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.  It was deeply humbling.  I\u2019ve been to the church before, but apparently no President has ever spoken and given the sermon.  And as I \u2014 in a sacred place, it was a time to pray and contemplate Dr. King\u2019s moral vision and clear path.  He talked about the \u201cBeloved Community\u201d that still inspires us today.<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s what I learned in my life and career along the path, as many of you have learned along the path you\u2019ve taken: We\u2019re all imperfect.  We\u2019re all imperfect beings.  We\u2019re fallible.  We\u2019re frail.  We fail.  We don\u2019t know where and what fate will deliver us and when.<\/p>\n<p>But we do know what we can, at our best, do: seek a life a little li- \u2014 a little bit of light and hope, a little bit of love and truth.<\/p>\n<p>We know that faith and history teach us however dark the night, \u201cjoy cometh in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And that joy comes when we apply the commandments of Scripture.  \u201cLove the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy soul.  And \u201cLove thy neighbor as thy self.\u201d  That\u2019s the hardest one I think.  At least it\u2019s hardest here.  Didn\u2019t use to be as hard.  I\u2019ve been here a long time, but it seems to be getting harder.  It\u2019s easy to say; it\u2019s hard to do.<\/p>\n<p>But in that commandment lies the essence of faith.  Loving our neighbors is also part of the essence of the American promise.  A promise that comes with a new Congress that is more diverse and more different and more \u2014 more religions, more races, more co- \u2014 more diversity than ever before in our history: people of all faiths, some people of no faith; gay, straight; immigrant, Native American.  Differences that express the infinite creativity of God who is able to see His reflection in countless ways in different people.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also an expression of the American conviction that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why Jill and I have opened the White House to celebrations of faith in our nation for Easter, for the Jewish High Holidays, for Diwali, and more.  That\u2019s America.  That\u2019s who we are.<\/p>\n<p>Let me close with the question Dr. King asked us all those years ago: \u201cWhere do we go from here?\u201d  Where do we go from here?<\/p>\n<p>My message to all of you and to the nation is: We go forward.  We go forward together.  Let us be doers of the Word.  Let\u2019s keep the faith.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s remember who we are.  We\u2019re the United States of America \u2014 the United States of America.  We\u2019re born out of an idea.  No other nation in the world is born of an idea.  They\u2019re based on ethnicity, geography, and so many other things.<\/p>\n<p>But the idea that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights \u2014 life, liberty, et cetera. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s nothing beyond our capacity.  We have to remember who in God\u2019s name we are.  We\u2019re the United States of America.<\/p>\n<p>My prayer for this prayer breakfast is we start to see each other again, look at each other again, travel with each other again, argue like hell with each other again but then still go to lunch together. <\/p>\n<p>You know, one of the interesting things when I first got to the Senate \u2014 it was in the days when the \u2014 there were some very strong segregationists still in the Senate, from James O. Eastland of Mississippi and, you know, Strom Thurmond.  I could go down the list.  And I used to watch Teddy Kennedy and James O. Eastland argue like hell on the floor.  Then they\u2019d go to the Senate Dining Room, sit down, and they\u2019d eat together.  They\u2019d eat together. <\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know how we do that anymore, but we have to.  We have to start treating each other in ways different than we have, in my humble opinion. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been the greatest honor of my life to serve this country.  I know I don\u2019t look it, but I\u2019ve done it for a few years.  (Laughter.)  And a lot of good folks, not-so-good folks, great folks, and a lot of folks better than me.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s just sort of, kind of, join hands again a little bit.  Let\u2019s start treating each other with respect.  That\u2019s what Kevin and I are going to do.  Not a joke.  We had a good meeting yesterday.  I think we got to do it across the board.  It doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to agree, and fight like hell, but let\u2019s treat each other with respect.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you, Lucy, for that introduction and, I might add, as I said last year, for your courage. You know, like many of you in the audience, Lucy lost a piece of her soul, and \u2014 and it\u2019s \u2014 you know, while the pain never fully leaves, you eventually find the purpose to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-life-style","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Fullscreen-capture-222023-44418-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155263,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155261\/revisions\/155263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/155262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}