Joseph Sabino Mistick: Nation’s grief not Democrat or Republican

If you had any doubts that words matter, Joe Biden’s speech last week should put that to rest. Marking the deaths of over 500,000 of our fellow Americans from the coronavirus, Biden bared his heart and spoke of the tragic losses of his first wife and his daughter and later his oldest son.

“This nation will know joy again,” he said. “And as we do we’ll remember each person we’ve lost, the lives they’ve lived, the loved ones they’ve left behind. We will get through this, I promise you.”

Biden managed to speak to the nation and at the same time to each American who has lost someone. He warned us to guard against “becoming numb to the sorrow” and told us to honor the dead by caring “for the living and those that are left behind.”

It wasn’t anything about politics. It was just one man, leaning on his own pain, guiding others through a sadness about which he knows too much. For some, moving on is unimaginable, but Biden has done it without losing the memories of those who are gone. He knows we can do it, too.

We needed those words, along with other rituals of our civic religion. The 12-ton Bourbon bell at the National Cathedral was rung 500 times, once for each of the 1,000 Americans who have died. And 500 candles were lit on the South Portico of the White House.

We will remain at odds over politics. When done right, those political differences work well for us, refining our ideas and public policies. But that unity we all seek must be around our sorrow and our resolve to come out on the other side. There is no such thing as Republican or Democratic grief.

There was also good news in the fight against the virus last week, but that’s always a mixed bag. Hospitalizations and deaths continued to drop, and new vaccines were announced. But there was also news of new strains of the virus.

After the year we’ve had, it is hard to trust any good news, but we want to. It always seems that when we take one step forward, we take two steps back. Last week sounded more like two steps forward and one step back. And that’s progress.

And just in time, the season is turning. The lemon trees that I coax through the winter have started to perk and soon will be huddled together in the sunshine. And the fig trees that spend winter in a dark corner of the garage have produced their annual miracle and sprouted tiny bright green leaves. All good signs.

Aeschylus, the ancient Greek writer, often is quoted at times like this. He wrote: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

Joe Biden said that in his own way: “I know this as well and it seems unbelievable, but I promise you the day will come when the memory of the loved one you lost will bring a smile to your lips before a tear to your eye. It will come, I promise you.” Words matter.

Joseph Sabino Mistick is a Pittsburgh lawyer.
Reach him at [email protected].

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Joseph Sabino Mistick Columns | Opinion