Today, I am remembering the one and only time I ever met Joe Biden at a political event, and how somehow it did not dawn on me to get picture with him.

It was 2005.
Dennise had made history the year before, becoming the first elected Latina State District Judge in the history of Dallas County, and simultaneously one of its only elected Democrats.

Biden, Obama, and Harry Reid came through town for a rally at the park formerly known at “Arlington Park.” The goal was to stir up support among Dallas Dems for the 2006 midterms, and to start the process of a whole lot more folks running as Democrats (the now famous “Blue Wave” of 2006 Dallas…)

We got a picture with Harry Reid.
Dennise got one with Obama.

We found ourselves in a scrum of local Dallas Democratic celebs; all of them acting every bit like fifteen-year-old “Swifties” about to get a glimpse of Taylor. I’d never seen anything like it. Even former mayor, Ron Kirk, pushed next to me at one moment, looked like a teenaged fanboy, as Obama entered the room.

But after Obama entered the room, it was crystal clear that HE was the star….he was the draw.
(That was the day I became certain that if he ran for president, he just might win…)

Meanwhile, somewhere else in that room that day was Joe Biden. I don’t know where he was. And, that’s my point. I lost all sight of him. Everyone else in that room did.

I never shook even his hand. I wasn’t anti-Biden. I was just caught up in the Obama-mania, like everyone else there.
It wasn’t until in the car on the way home that I realized, “Oh…I never got a picture with Joe Biden…”

I don’t know why I find that the perfect metaphor for what just happened today, but somehow I do.

Right there, in 2005, Joe Biden was already stepping aside, making a space for Barack Obama to shine.
Biden would do it again in 2008 when, despite decades of years of experience, he willing and finally put away his own dreams of being president, and accepted the role of vice-president.
He did it again in 2020, when —still reeling from his own very deep and personal grief— he came back into politics, to save this country we love. Against all odds, he put his hat in the ring, and unified a deeply divided party.

Joe Biden did that.
Joe Biden BEAT Donald Trump.
The only politician to yet do that.

What a roller coaster, friends. What a ride. I cannot imagine the whiplash he must feel.
Time and again being counted out, and then being asked to step up and help, only to be asked to step aside again.
And now, today, Joe Biden shows us his servant heart once again.

Today, friends, Joe Biden reminded us of what, dear God in heaven, I wish every elected official would understand, and almost none of them ever do:

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.
It’s NEVER about you.

It’s about serving your country, your state, your county, your city.
It’s about BEING OF SERVICE…not holding, accumulating, or wielding powerful.

And here’s the God’s honest truth, whoever you are, and whomever you will support this Fall….
If our representative democracy has any chance at all of surviving, we need thousands more Joe Bidens than we have right now.

Because, what I see?
At the city, state, county, and national level?
I see too many people in both parties seeking power for power’s sake.
I see stupid local political squabbles and vying for power and control. (stories that, trust me, I will one day tell…)
I see too many people foolishly believing “It’s my turn,” as if elected leadership is a series of Instagram photo ops, as if our elected leaders ruled by right of a king and they deserve to be where they are, as if being elected means we bow down to them, rather than them making hard, often unpopular decisions for us.

Leadership in American government should be about SERVICE.

And that fact that it sounds odd to say that sentence is precisely why we are in the hell of a mess we are still in today, even with today’s news.
Lest you think I am just some old White guy, defending the old White guy….please think again. I’ll quickly remind you that Joe Biden wasn’t even my fourth favorite pick in 2020.
(Absolutely true, and I know it sounds self serving now, but Kamala Harris was my number one…)

So, no, I’m not old school “Team Joe” guy, or even old school older generation guy. It’s time for new generations of leaders, and that was about the only thing I made clear as the 2020 primary season began.
That said, it didn’t work out that way, and Joe Biden was the nominee. Joe Biden brought the party together with skill and dexterity that only comes with decades of experience. Joe Biden did it because he wanted to be of use, and of service.

Joe Biden helped save our democracy, bring us out of the pandemic, and has given us an economy that (whatever you think of it) is the envy of just about every other industrialized country right now.

I am quite confident that this humble attitude comes from his foundational Catholic faith and the place it plays in his life…and the place my own Christian faith does as well…in checking the dangerous of simple, naked ambition, and reminding us of the call to serve that comes from a higher, deeper, place.

There is a major part of me that worries that we have forgotten what steady, boring, leadership actually looks like…and that we are racing after image, rather than substance in what the public seems to want from a leaders.

I think now I saw this, all of it, way back in 2005…on that day I totaly forgot Joe Biden was in the room.

Maybe we just fail to notice good servant leaders. Maybe we are just so used all the “shocks” of the past decade (Naomi Klein’s metaphor…) that we’re starting to lose our ability to recognize good, decent, competency.

So, America, before we rush off into what will likely still be a chaotic Fall campaign….pause for just a moment…please?
Today is not a day to react in fear that Democrats will certainly lose.
Nor is it a day to rejoice that old Joe is now gone.
I did not write this because I am pro-Biden.
I’m writing this because I am now, and always have been, PRO-PUBLIC SERVICE.

Today is a day to pause and give thanks for a man who, as he has done throughout his career, has once again put his love for his country above his own ambitions, or what he and his team might believe he rightly deserves.

Please, America, stop and pause, stop and look, at what it means to be a true servant of the American people.
Pause in honor of a servant’s heart, and pray a deep prayer the true service of Joe Biden.