We stand now at a crossroads of righteousness and humanity. The death of Charlie Kirk, while shocking and horrific, is being met just as divisively as his rhetoric. It pushes me to consider more carefully the choices we make in our words, our actions, our love, and what we want our legacy to be.
I want to be crystal clear. I absolutely did not agree with Kirk’s views. He dressed up hatred in the guise of educational debate. And that forces us to think not only about what we say, how we say it, but also what we leave unsaid, and how society responds when tragedy strikes someone we do or do not agree with.
When Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed a couple of months ago, and other Democratic lawmakers attacked, there was sorrow. But it was brief and fleeting. In contrast, Kirk’s death has produced a surge of statements and declarations – including this one. Why is that? Is this the tipping point? The last straw? Or simply another manipulation of algorithms and political strategies geared for financial gain? I’m not sure, but I’m feeling it as a wake up call. It seems that when grief is measured through a political lens, it’s claimed when we agree and withheld when we do not – and I know I’m guilty of that too and need to do better, even when I’m angry at the hypocrisy.
Yesterday’s shooting at Evergreen High School adds another layer. A student opened fire, injuring two classmates before turning the gun on himself. This raw, immediate trauma does not stand alone. It merges into the deep river of loss within a nation already scarred by over 300 mass shootings in this year alone.
That’s a numbing number. There’s only so much trauma that we can individually sustain. So we become numb and silent. We stay silent out of fear of retaliation. We stay silent because we think our voice will not matter. But mostly, we stay silent because it hasn’t yet impacted us personally. But silence carries its own weight. It builds walls. It allows injustice to persist. It becomes complicity in the narratives that divide us.
This moment asks us to embody what we teach others in our work:
Mindfulness. Every word matters. Every silence matters. Every action has an impact. Be intentional in our interactions, especially when anger rises. Notice it, name it, and choose not to let it harden into harm.
Compassion. We may reject beliefs. We may clash with ideas. Holding compassion does not compromise our integrity or diminish our sense of justice. Rather, it bolsters our sense of justice while retaining the ability to stay heart-centered in our actions.
Purpose. The legacies that endure are measured by how we lived in the ordinary and extraordinary moments. They are revealed in whether we channeled anger into courage for change, or into forces for destruction.
Our horses remind us of these principles every day. They don’t respond to speeches or arguments; they respond to authenticity and congruence. Kirk’s death was the result of hate filled philosophy being met with hate filled violence. That it has come to this is horrifying but unsurprising. This is the oldest playbook there is. Zoom out to global news cycles right now and you’ll see it in play everywhere. We are a world at war. And that is terrifying. But fear of disagreement must not push us into silence either. If we choose to speak, we need to recognize that our words become part of the cultural current shaping this moment. That responsibility demands that our words be mindful in intention, compassionate in tone, purposeful in direction, and accountable in impact. Only then can we honor our shared humanity and begin the work of healing communities that are fractured and broken.
In the end, what endures is the justice we pursue, the compassion we extend, and the humanity we choose to share.
P.S. If you’re asking yourself, “But, what can I do?”, here are two non-profit organizations focused on helping Americans transcend partisan boundaries and restore civil discourse:
– Braver Angels has grassroots chapters across the country and holds events and workshops online to bridge the partisan divide. https://braverangels.org
– BridgeUSA has student-led college chapters nationwide and aims to “empower young people to engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of politics.” Bridgeusa https://bridgeusa.org