I have needed to write this since last Wednesday (September 10th) but I couldn’t think clearly enough in light of the horrible events of that Wednesday afternoon.
In the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk I first felt disbelief as though someone was playing a cruel joke. But they weren’t.
Then like so many others who admired the young man I felt anger, rage and physical pain sometimes all at the same time. It took a couple days for those emotions to begin fading. Throughout I have cried, on the way to church services to worship our God I cried and then again on the way home.
At some point those very strong emotions will subside for nothing lasts forever. However I believe with all my heart the effect Charlie had on our nation, and the world also, combined with the effect his assassination had on the world ensures not only his legacy will live on but also the positive change it has already given birth to in America. You can’t escape it just by turning off your phone and TV, that change is evident and our sporting events, in our churches and synagogues and our conversations with one another. It is evident with the billboards springing up across the land celebrating his legacy. It is evident by the signs in store windows. I have no doubt there will be babies born who are given the names “Charlie” or “Kirk” in honor of Charlie’s legacy.
Charlie’s death bequeathed power from above to change our nation both socially and spiritually. Don’t misunderstand me though, I’m not putting Charlie on the level of Jesus by any means. I don’t even know for sure what religion he claims, because I never heard him promote a single religion. He DID promote Jehovah and Yeshua (God and Jesus). He promoted the Bible. He wasn’t perfect by any means and I’m sure he would be the first to acknowledge that. But what he was, well, where do I start? I think we all know the adjectives that have been repeated continually this past week, and I don’t know if I could come up with something better. The one word that does come to my mind more than any other is “faithful.” I do believe he faithfully did his very best every single day to live his life for Jehovah God, his wife Erika and two beautiful children, and his country.
A day after his death I saw a graphic someone had created picturing Lincoln, Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. , Charlie Kirk and Jesus Christ with the simple phrase “All Because Of Words,” obviously in reference to all five being killed because someone(s) not being capable to have a civil discussion with those men. As a human being I understand the comparison being made and I’m sure the artist had the best of intentions in mind, however, being a religious man myself, I find this image inadvertently elevates man to a level on par with Jesus or put another way – lowers Jesus to the level of a common man. Make no mistake, I believe with all my heart Charlie Kirk was a God-fearing man but we need to be careful to not idolize him (and I feel he wouldn’t want us to either).
This post has been very difficult to write. It is now Monday after Charlie’s death and as I watch the continued news coverage of the aftermath I cry again. I don’t know when I will stop. One thing I have noticed is the pain in my heart has shifted more from his death to his wife and children.
Speaking of his wife Erika… wow! What a force of nature! Her strong emotional remarks when she spoke to the nation were so very powerful and so very reassuring that the movement created by her husband will charge on stronger than ever, at least for decades, and hopefully centuries, to come.
Thank you, Charlie, for the gift you gave our nation.