Anyone who has lost a loved one knows the “year of firsts” can land hard as you navigate both ordinary days and special events minus their familiar presence.
For Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, the slain Turning Point USA founder, these last 365 days have unfolded very publicly – and very painfully, too.
Writing in Monday’s New York Times, Erika reflected:
The first Saturday without a love note from him passed. His 32nd birthday. My birthday. Thanksgiving. When I put the Christmas tree together wrong, it made me realize that being a widow means old traditions will need to make room for new ones … Easter, our wedding anniversary, our son’s second birthday, the preliminary hearing for the man accused of murdering my husband, our annual trip to Maine, now as a family of three. Then the last of them, our daughter’s fourth birthday.
The horrifying public execution of Charlie Kirk elicited months of commentary, controversy and even conspiracy. Some within the radical left celebrated his death. A year later, Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing him, has been ordered to stand trial and faces the prospect of the death penalty if convicted.
In addition to being a mother to their 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, Erika was unanimously elected as CEO and chair of the TPUSA board. Under her leadership, the organization has grown by 168% on high school campuses and 64% at colleges and universities.
It would be impossible for Erika Kirk to put into words just how much she and her family miss Charlie. Like any husband and father, he was irreplaceable – one of one.
Charlie Kirk’s radio and podcast programs and campus events have continued with a series of high-profile guests and personalities hosting. They’ve not only paid tribute to the man himself, but also the mission he had wholeheartedly embraced.
But as we mark one year since the beloved commentator and Christian evangelist was silenced, it’s worth noting that we’re missing more than Charlie.
We’re missing the unique and compounding gifts and talents that Charlie Kirk drew out of everyone else. We’re missing what those men and women will likely never become because of what they’ll now never learn from the murdered evangelist.
Writing in his book, “The Four Loves,” C.S. Lewis poignantly observed this phenomenon:
In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.
He went on to note, “The more we share together the more we become ourselves … Each friend contributes something to the friendship which no one else can contribute.”
Lewis may not have been writing about the magnifying dynamic of a public personality, but in this era of mass media, the concept still applies.
When Charlie Kirk took to the airwaves and shared the Gospel or made a compelling and cogent defense of conservative thought and truth, he was influencing the influencers. He was helping shape the way they thought and communicated.
It wasn’t just podcast followers and students on college campuses who were listening and taking notes. President Trump and Vice President Vance were paying attention, as were countless members of Congress and other individuals within the social conservative movement. Charlie’s sound theology, profound wisdom and critical thinking were contagious.
King Solomon was alluding to this when he wrote, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20). The Apostle Paul warned, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1 Cor. 15:33).
Charlie Kirk was good company because he helped trigger good thoughts and critically sound thinking.
Similar to the tragic killing of innocent preborn life, we’ll never know this side of eternity all of what we’ve lost in the murder of Charlie Kirk – but we’ve lost more than can be calculated.
The post One Year Later, We Are Missing More Than Charlie Kirk appeared first on Daily Citizen.
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