Farewell, Charlie Kirk: A Torch That Will Not Go Out
- Rich Washburn
- Sep 21
- 2 min read
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Today was something America has never seen before. For the first time in our history, both the President and the Vice President showed up to the funeral of a private citizen. That tells you everything you need to know about Charlie Kirk. He wasn’t just another activist. He was a force of nature. A larger-than-life figure who built something so big, so impactful, that the entire world had to stop and take notice.
The service today wasn’t just a funeral. It was history. It was faith on display. It was grief, yes, but it was also a movement standing tall even as it mourned.
I’ll be honest — I had to take breaks. Watching it all was heavy. During one of those pauses I heard Peter Gabriel’s Come Talk to Me, and it landed like a hammer. That’s what Charlie did. That’s what he wanted from all of us. Talk. Engage. Don’t stay silent. Don’t retreat. Come talk to me.
And then I went back and listened to another Gabriel song, I Grieve. I hadn’t heard it in years. But man, it was like it was written for this moment. That song is all about the aftermath of death — the numbness, the disbelief, the silence that follows. And then, slowly, it builds into something else: the recognition that life carries on. The grief doesn’t disappear, but it transforms into movement, into legacy, into the responsibility to keep going.
That’s exactly where we are now. We grieve because we lost one of the greats. But we also know this doesn’t end here.
Charlie Kirk wasn’t perfect. Nobody is. But when you look at the total picture of his life, you see the millions of young people he inspired, the students who found faith, the families that formed because of his work, the people who finally found their voice because he showed them how. That is the mark of a man who lived with courage and conviction. That is why his legacy will outlast all the nitpicking and all the critics.
And then there’s Erika. Let me be crystal clear about this: Erika Kirk is the brightest light this world has seen in generations. In a moment when the world would understand if she was angry, bitter, calling for vengeance, she has stood with grace. With forgiveness. With faith. And in doing so, she has become a beacon of hope the world desperately needs right now. Watching her, hearing her words — it’s impossible not to be moved. She is carrying something divine, something this broken culture cannot extinguish.
Contrast that with the noise online. While others mock and sneer, the Kirk family prays. While critics spit venom, Erika shines brighter. It’s not even close.
So what do we do now? We grieve. We mourn. But then, like Gabriel’s song, we rise. Because this story doesn’t end with Charlie’s death. His torch is passed — to Erika, to his family, to every single one of us who refuses to surrender to the darkness.
Charlie Kirk, the man, is gone. But his voice will never die.
Thank you Charlie
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