First Lady Jill Biden bared her soul at a church service Sunday when she told a South Carolina congregation that she had lost her faith in God after her son, Beau, had died from brain cancer in 2015.
Biden said she never gave up hope that he would live, despite the diagnoses of doctors.
“In the final days,” she said. “I made one last prayer, and it went unanswered.”
Though her husband, President Joe Biden, continued to attend church, she did not.
“I couldn’t even pray. I wondered if I would ever feel joy again,” she said.
But the act of one person, “changed my life,” Biden said, noting the outreach of Robin Jackson in 2019, who invited Biden to become her “prayer partner.”
Over the past 2½ years, the two have kept to their Wednesday schedule of exchanging texts to say they are praying for each other and the things that weigh on their hearts.
That simple act has helped restore her faith, Biden said.
“I’m not very public in my faith,” Biden told the congregants. “But it’s always been an important part of who I am.”
On Sunday, Biden surprised Jackson at her church in Brookland, S.C., where her husband is pastor.
Biden’s recollection of when she and Jackson first met speaks of the power we each hold.
“I don’t know if she could see the grief that I feel still hides behind my smile. But I do know when she spoke, it was if God was saying to me, ‘OK, Jill, you’ve had enough time. It’s time to come home.’
“And in that moment, I felt for the first time that there was a path for my recovering my faith.”
THIS EVENT is just as much about Mrs. Jackson as Mrs. Biden. We are all called to use our talents for healing.
A mantra professionals often use is, “Slow, silent, and stupid.” Don’t rush; don’t be afraid of silence; and don’t assume that you know what the other person means; ask.
