Much of the Bible is easy to read, yet just as easy to overlook, underappreciate, and forget. Suddenly, an event happens. It takes you back. Erika Kirk did that for me, perhaps for you, too.
On September 21, Charlie Kirk’s widow did the unthinkable. Days after an assassin took her husband, father of their two young children, she stood before the world and God, and said: “I forgive him,” adding, “I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it is what Charlie would do.”
My mind rushed back to Pope John Paul II, who went to the cell of his near assassin – Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish fascist who critically wounded him on May 13, 1981 – and forgave him.
My mind also returned to Christ’s words in The Beatitudes, Matthew 5, where so much is said in The Sermon on the Mount that it is hard to recall it all, and hard to process the enormity of the words.
On that day, more than 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, God and Man, sat before his disciples and said things he had never said before, as recorded by Matthew. His words were prophetic, hopeful, comforting, and instructive. They were the promise that lifted Charlie, Erika, and Pope John Paul II.
Among those words are these:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven …”
Christ, sitting there on the Mount of Beatitudes, continued.
“You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven …”
He then asks them to pray with The Lord’s prayer, in which you will recall the lines: “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts (or trespasses) as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
And then Christ explains: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Toward the end, Christ says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it, will be measured to you.”
So much more was said on that day, to His disciples, but these words returned to me as I reflected on Erika’s faith. And Charlie’s. And Pope John Paul II’s.
After surviving an assassin’s bullet just as Ronald Reagan did – Pope John Paul II, who grew up in Soviet-dominated Poland, helped Reagan bring the Soviet Union’s evil empire to an end – freeing 300 million souls from the shackles of communism.
Both leaders survived nearly successful assassination attempts. Reagan was nearly killed in March 1981, and like the Pope, Reagan forgave his assassin in 1990.
All this said, the thought that lingers is the power, strength, and faith required not only to forgive a would-be assassin, but the assassin of your spouse. From where does such power, strength, and faith come? No doubt, from the Bible itself.
Pause and wonder with me: If such strong people exist, if someone like Erika Kirk can somehow summon the spiritual strength to forgive a man who killed the love of her life, the father of her children, and an apostle for Christ, what is then required of us? And what might follow our following that example?
What good might come, in our own small worlds, if we should also hear clearly The Beatitudes, think on them again, believe Christ’s words, and act on them?
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
Read full article here