I've been putting off writing about two different things in my blog. Partly because I wasn't sure how to process everything and partly out of exhaustion. My Aunt Margaret passed away a couple of weeks ago, which I'm going to be writing about on my family history blog. The other was the assassination of the public figure, Charlie Kirk, just minutes away from us.
Jer and I were out getting our international driver's licenses renewed when we got notifications of a shooting just down the road at the college campus. We didn't see any emergency vehicles so we assumed that it wasn't so bad and then a notification that Charlie Kirk was at the hospital. Not long after, we got word that he'd died at the hospital just minutes from our home. Why he wasn't taken to the bigger and better hospital... I don't know, and according to news outlets later it wouldn't have mattered. I had friends that were present at the shooting. My past daycare worker was present. She didn't know who he was but was invited by a friend. She's lived through lots of personal trauma and this did not help her anxiety and depression. Our nephew that works at the Walmart next door was in lockdown the rest of the day. Seth's school went into lockdown. (He was in gym so he didn't notice.... they just locked the door and kept playing their games).
That first bit, I was in shock. I didn't know what to think that something so horrible could have happened right here. Then the next day I was in mourning. I am not a political person, but I did notice that this year especially he'd been teaching about Jesus Christ more. I appreciated that about him.
Jer and I were both having a hard day, but all our normal daily things still had to happen. My job that day was to get our van fixed. What I thought was going to be an all day activity ended up being a 20 minute one that they have to finish another day. I needed peace so I dropped in to the temple without an appointment. I asked if there were any openings for ordinances before kids got out of school. They didn't but I went up to the Celestial Room and they suggested that I go do a couple of confirmations in the baptistry. I did. I appreciated that even though I didn't have an appointment, there was still a place for me there. My soul quieted and I just opened my scriptures to random points because I just didn't know where to start. The first verse I opened to was about political unrest. The next verse I turned to was about testifying of Christ. The next verse was about calm. I went on the rest of my day with a sad but calm heart. One of the sisters that I minister to was not so calm. Then a child took an unloaded gun to school in their backpack at her kids' elementary school just a couple days later. That situation did not help that calm either.
Over the next month we have seen an internation movement in response to his assassination. Both because he was an international figure and also because of the availability of information (true and false) in our digital age. Whether you like him or not, he has become a hinge figure in our history, much like Martin Luther King. The kids didn't really understand what was going on. I didn't want to make them afraid about living in our area, but I did want to explain that what they were living through was politically significant. I showed them some of the clips of the vigils around the world and talked about the impact that this might or might not have on our world.
I'm sad that anyone would believe that this was necessary. I'm sad that people think that killing someone would change what they're saying, especially today where it just acted as a megaphone. I'm grateful for the temple and the peace that I can find there.
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