Friends.
Charlie Kirk has been murdered.
And.
Can I be honest? I feel a mix of things.
My heart hurts - it hurts for him, it hurts for his family, it hurts for his children, it hurts for his friends. It hurts, too, for the people he hurt and the lives he damaged with the words he spoke, typed, and shared while he was alive. I adamantely disagreed with 99.9% of the words that came out of his mouth and stemmed from his keyboard, but my heart hurts for him and his family because even in the midst of our differences (I believe) - we were/are connected.
He and I.
You and him.
You and me.
We’re all one, I think, and it’s in these times that I challenge myself all the more to remember just how connected we are to one another.
It saddens me when I see people on “the Left” celebrating the death of those on “the Right” - making jokes about their death, scoffing at the tears shed by supporters or family or friends or whatever.
Because.
Really?
How would those of us who align more “Left” feel if one of our own exited this world in the same way that Charlie Kirk did only to have people on “the Right” fill their social media feeds with laughter and hatred and scoffing?
And, yes.
I know.
Many would … right? In fact, many have when more politically / theologically “Left” people have died.
But.
I don’t know.
What I do know, though, is that something needs to change. Charlie Kirk was murdered because of the hatred that is alive and all too well in the heart of humanity (hatered that, yes, he himself helped generate with his words and the many outlets through which he shared them) - a hatred that each and every one of us has seething in us and around us, a hatred that is fanned into flame by media and the ease of saying something quick and thoughtless into the endless void of social media.
And.
Yes.
Again.
I realize that Charlie’s words have hurt many people, ruined the lives of people - made existence difficult for many, many people. I realize that his words have made life hard for many people, for people (specifically) on the margins of society. I am angered by many of his words, angered by the ways in which he has influenced and created hatred in his own way.
Complicated …
Angry.
Sad.
Angry.
Sad.
Angry.
Sad.
It’s OK (and human) to have a mix of emotions in these moments, even if those emotions are much more anger and rage than hurt or sadness.
On one side …
Charlie was a human being who (I believe, just like me and you) housed the Divine - the very breath of God. And although we might have been been polar opposites in many respects, it’s that breath of the Divine that makes us One.
And so today I feel a wave of heaviness in the air as I look at Jordan and wonder what it was like in their home last night as his wife tried to get his kids to sleep. I wonder if those little eyes saw any news clips, I wonder what those little ears might have heard people say about their daddy. I wonder what kids will say to them about their dad as they grow, what kids will parrot to them based upon what they have heard their own parents say about Charlie.
On the other side …
Charlie was (in my opinion) a radically Right-winged media figure whose ideas were dangerous to society; and his opinions on women, LGBTQ people, racism, guns, etc. could not be more different than my own. Some of the things that left his mouth and keyboard came across (to me) as ignorant, disconnected, privileged, and tone deaf.
And so I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that, today, there’s a part of me that is relieved that those ideas will no longer come from his social media accounts, emails, podcasts, etc. even if I know that they will come across all the more in his followers, fans, etc.
Sigh.
Again - complicated feelings, right?
I don’t know Chalie or his family, of course. And I can’t really stomach listening to him talk. But today I try my best to put those things aside so that I might send love, light, and strength to his family.
Like, last night.
Before their game, the New York Yankees (at their home in Bronx, NY) held a moment of silence for Charlie and his family - a picture of him was put on the screen and the whole stadium went silent for a few moments to pay their respects.
Repects …
Not to someone they all agreed with.
Not to someone who they all considered an ally.
Not to someone they all wanted to emulate.
But.
To a fellow human being who was (I believe) more than his policital, religious, etc. ideas; who was also a husband, a daddy, and (at one time) a small child who had his own dreams, aspirations, and traumas that (most certainly, as is true for all of us) helped fuel who he was an adult.
As
shared this morning on their Substack …We are sick with the lie of otherness. Healing begins when we remember we are one family.
May it be.
Much love,
Glenn || PATREON / ART STUDIO / EBAY