On Wednesday, Nov. 5, Erika Kirk was interviewed by Jesse Watters. They covered many topics in the interview, some of which are of special interest to Seventh-day Adventists. LINK
Sabbath
Watters: Was it hard for you guys to balance work and the family?
Erika: When we were first married, we would travel everywhere together. We were on the road 350 some days out of the year. And then once we had our first child, it was an adjustment period because I wanted to be home with our little one. But he was so good about always wanting to come home. Always wanted to come home. And I wanted to make sure that he wanted to come home again. That's why I never said, "What are you doing? Why are you gone? Why are you traveling so much?" I never had those questions because I knew his heart and I knew what he was doing was so important and he always included me in it.
There were times where I would go to his events and there were times where I wouldn't but it was a family-oriented mission. So I never once was threatened by that because I was a part of it.
Watters: He wrote you letters. Charlie wrote you letters.
Erika: I know. Every week, every Saturday. So he would turn his phone off to honor the Sabbath. He would come in, open the junk drawer. Everyone has a junk drawer. Open the junk drawer, said Shabbat shalom. Put it in there, turned the phone off, slam the door, and he felt so free because he was unreachable for 24, 48 hours.”
The Ten Commandments Twice Removed
State of the Dead
Watters: What's the hardest part of your day?
Erika: The night. Nighttime always. I'll tell him about my day. I talk to him all the time. But the nights are the hardest, being in a bed by yourself, rolling over trying to get a good night kiss that's not there. Um, you know, and anyone who's a widow knows what that means. How painful that is. Excuse me. So easy to take the little things for granted.
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Watters: Are they [their children] still asking “Where is daddy?”
Erika: Yes, my daughter continues to ask. I told her the other day cuz she said I just miss daddy and where's daddy? When is he coming home? And I said, baby, daddy's still with Jesus. And I said, they are so busy. And I said, if ever you want to talk to daddy, you just look up to the sky and start talking to him. He can hear you. It's always been hard. And I told her, I said, "You know, Daddy, Daddy is in heaven." She goes, "So, does that mean he's in a different house?" And I said, "Yes, baby. Jesus is building a a house for us. Some people would say a mansion." She goes, "You think I could go sometime? [wept] Children are so precious. I said, "Baby, we will all go one day. We will all go one day."
Forgiveness
Watters: You shocked a lot of people when you forgave Tyler Robinson. How did you do that?
Erika: I remember going over the speech the night before and there was a portion I put in there about how Charlie was trying to save the lost boys of the west. He was trying to save the exact type of individual who murdered him. And when I reread that the night before, it just was weighing on my heart. Forgive him. A lot of people in this world think that forgiveness is a weakness or that when you forgive, you forget.
And it's the exact opposite. It's a form of freedom. The enemy, the enemy stole my husband. And if I didn't forgive, it's [forgiveness] more so for me than this man. Because the enemy would have my heart. And I knew that every day the Lord forgives me for things. How he forgives everybody else for things. Small, big, and what an example of forgiveness.
And it's not easy. It's not easy. It never is easy, but it's freeing. It's so freeing. And again, it's not a weakness, but it's a a way for me to be able to say, "You'll never get me. You'll never get me.”
Commentary
The book Ten Commandments Twice Removed was personally given to Charlie by Danny Shelton on March 28 of this year. The book in the above picture may be that one, or another book that was sent to Charlie (possibly sent after his murder).
“The living know that they shall die and the dead know nothing” (Eccl. 9:5). This verse seems to say all that needs to be said about the state of the dead. But there are roughly five verses in the Bible that seem to suggest that someone who dies goes to heaven or hell at the point of death. Upon closer examination, those five verses agree with hundreds of other verses that clearly state that death is a sleep, and sleeping saints await the call of the Good Shepherd who will awaken them to newness of life on That Day.
Erika says she ‘talks’ to Charlie. She is vulnerable right now. If that’s part of your healing process, ok, I guess. But it is very dangerous, opening yourself up to enemy deception if he starts ‘talking back.’ This is called necromancy in the Bible. The dead know nothing, they are in the best hands possible, resting until Jesus returns. As someone who is in the grieving process, I find the biblical truth about the dead being non-conscious, the best possible solution. Our Father is so good, and so right in all that He does. Let us not sorrow as those who have no hope, and let us not seek the living among the dead. They can’t hear us or communicate with us.
Erika is spot on with her forgiveness of the fellow who murdered Charlie. Forgiveness is being willing to pay the emotional price for the pain that someone else has caused you. It is giving up all hope of having a different past. It is accepting what happened as something that happened. If you don’t forgive (and you don’t have to—it’s a choice) there is one other option. Bitterness. And bitterness is a pathway. Unresolved, it leads to greater and more serious consequences. They are Resentment—> Anger —> Depression —> Despair —> and finally, Suicidal Thoughts. The choice is ours (Hebrews 12:15; Ephesians 4:31).
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“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31,32).