GRIEF TAKES MANY FORMS

Loss is a part of life, and so is grief. When loss is personal, we grieve close to home. When it touches us all, we grieve together.

I’ve thought a lot about loss over the days since Charlie Kirk was brutally assassinated. Like so many, I’ve watched numerous video clips of his interactions with students across the country. I’ve listened to his powerful words with more focus and greater appreciation. I watched his beautiful wife speak barely 48 hours after his death. I’ve read countless posts honoring Charlie’s life and legacy. Unfortunately, I’ve also witnessed hate. However, rather than focusing on that, I’m choosing to focus on the untimely loss of a wonderful human being and the grief currently touching us.

I did not know Charlie Kirk, but I knew of him. As a former American History teacher, his perspective fascinated and inspired me. Many times I found myself thinking, boy, I would’ve loved to have had him as a student! His perspective was powerful. He led with his faith, believed in the teachings of the Bible, the foundations of America, the Constitution, and freedom. Every time he spoke, his convictions were evident. His delivery was respectful, honest, and grounded in logic and reasoning. He didn’t need bells and whistles, shock, or theatrics. His words were enough.

Grief takes many forms because loss comes in many forms.

Collectively, we’re grieving the loss of a young man who accomplished so much good in his short life. Our grief is not the same as the grief his wife and children, friends, and family are experiencing. That’s an intimate, more deeply felt, and vastly more painful grief.

As a Nation, we’re grieving the loss of a public figure who made an impact, as well as the loss of all that might’ve been. What ties us together in this moment is that grief changes us. It changes us because life before that moment of loss and life after change. How we heal and what we do with that change is up to us.

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In grief, faith is our greatest comfort.

Charlie Kirk, 1993-2025. “Well done, good and faithful servant,” Matthew 25:23.

Grief takes many forms.

We grieve loss

because loss is part of life.

We grieve for lost love,

lost life, and lost time.

When grief comes,

it changes us.

It compels us to

look inward,

to try and make sense

out of what seems so senseless.

When loss is personal,

we grieve close to home.

When loss touches all of us,

we grieve with many.

We feel compassion for others,

understanding their pain,

as we experience our own.

We gather more closely,

sharing the burden,

offering comfort.

Saying goodbye,

whether it’s expected 

or it comes without warning,

doesn’t change the loss.

We often ask why,

even knowing the answers

may never come.

In grief, FAITH is 

our greatest comfort.

For it’s through FAITH,

that we begin to heal.

It’s FAITH that assures us,

that what is separated now,

will be reunited once again.

It’s FAITH that asks us,

to place our trust, 

not in this world,

but in GOD, the author 

of our lives and our salvation,

the One who says,

“Do not be troubled, for though you do not,

understand now, all will be revealed.

Trust in my FAITHFULNESS. 

I hold you in my righteous right hand, 

and I will never leave you.”

Amen.

JN Fenwick (© 2025) 

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JN Fenwick/mothjournal14 ©2025 | All rights reserved. | I DO NOT WALK THIS RECOVERY JOURNEY ALONE.