This week was hit with a pure tragedy. Charlie Kirk was gunned down by someone who was intolerant of beliefs that he held. It’s a senseless crime.
Why he is a victim of this act stands as a testimony to the upright position he chose to walk. Strong before the Lord, standing for right over wrong.
We all have the power to choose right and wrong. This God-given agency does not care what side you are on. Even the evilest person in the world has agency. It’s unfortunate that some choose to use it so horribly as to wreck the lives of others.
Yes, Charlie Kirk was well known. Outspoken. But is it any different when we lose a loved one to a drunk driver? Don’t get me wrong. This is a horrible tragedy that should never have happened. But the measure of a man is not just the number of followers.
The true measure of a man is in his choices. In the way they lead their family. In the lives they touch. For those of faith it’s teaching their children to walk upright before God and make the same strong covenants to bring them back to the Lord. In our faith, it’s teaching about the Temple and encouraging them to attend when they can.
Charlie Kirk certainly touched many lives and will be missed. But it’s not the followers that will miss him the most, but rather his young children and wife he left behind.
And it’s no different than the tragedy of a few months in Coeur D’Alene, ID where firemen were senselessly gunned down while trying to put out a wildfire started by the gunman. Lost lives, and families forever changed. And not in a good way.
No matter what your beliefs, taking the life of another is not the answer. Just because you want them to be quiet does not mean you get to forcibly make them so. You can choose to tune them out but not take them out. And should you choose to take them out, mercy won’t be found on the other side of the gates of Heaven.
No matter how small of a contribution we believe we make on those around us, our families will speak to the opposite. The measure of a man (or woman) will come down to the lives they touch. The children they raise. The legacy they leave behind.
We never know when God will call us back to His side. We need to make the most of the time we have. Putting family before all others through teaching and love while showing compassion towards those that surround us.
Never put off the hug for another day. Because tomorrow might not come.
And in making your choices, be very mindful that you are not taking away the agency of another for your own selfish gains.