Biden’s promise to unite is the message we need

Biden offered words to the nation Saturday that we hope set a tone for the days ahead.

Joe Biden is the nation’s president-elect, winning with the most votes ever cast in the history of our nation, 75 million.

That doesn’t discount the 70 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump. These 2020 election results reflect the most passionate and determined turnout in history and show that the nation is indeed deeply divided in its choice of leadership.

President-elect Biden has staked a claim to trying to bridge that divide.

Calling on our better angels, quoting Ecclesiastes and a hymn beloved by his late son Beau, Biden offered words to the nation Saturday that we hope set a tone for the days ahead:

“... Let’s give each other a chance.

It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric.

To lower the temperature. To see each other again. To listen to each other again.

To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy.

We are not enemies. We are Americans.

The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season — a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal.

This is the time to heal in America.

Now that the campaign is over — what is the people’s will? What is our mandate?

I believe it is this: Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.

... Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now.

The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control.

It’s a decision. It’s a choice we make.

And if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate.

That’s the choice I’ll make. And I call on the Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — to make that choice with me.

The American story is about the slow, yet steady widening of opportunity.

Make no mistake: Too many dreams have been deferred for too long.

We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity, or their disability

America has always been shaped by inflection points — by moments in time where we’ve made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be.

... We must restore the soul of America.

Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses.

It is time for our better angels to prevail.

Tonight, the whole world is watching America. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe.

And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.

I’ve always believed we can define America in one word: Possibilities.

That in America everyone should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them.

You see, I believe in the possibility of this country. We’re always looking ahead. Ahead to an America that’s freer and more just.

Ahead to an America that creates jobs with dignity and respect.

Ahead to an America that cures disease — like cancer and Alzheimers.

Ahead to an America that never leaves anyone behind.

Ahead to an America that never gives up, never gives in. This is a great nation. 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.

... And now, together — on eagle’s wings — we embark on the work that God and history have called upon us to do.

With full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with a love of country — and a thirst for justice — let us be the nation that we know we can be. A nation united.

A nation strengthened. A nation healed.”