I came across this poem the other day, and it may be helpful to you in a time of grief. 

Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thanks for being here. This is the third time I've recorded, and I've never, I've never taken two takes on this podcast. This is the third time I've had to do a take here. I just recorded this episode reading a poem that I thought would be helpful to a lot of different people in a lot of different circumstances. Whether you've experienced a horrible loss in your life, I think about this from the perspective of Charlie's parents. 

I think about this from his wife's, his wife, his children's perspective one day, Charlie Kirk, of course. We have this memorial service coming up on Sunday, and I pray that it is beautiful. I pray that God speaks through everyone who is speaking there and that the people there who are speaking say what God wants them to say and what this country needs to hear. I pray it sparks a revival. I pray this Sunday is a beautiful event and good. Before we read this poem, I want to play this clip here of A man, Frank Turek. 

I didn't know this, but Frank Turek is the author of a book that someone gave me that early in my becoming a Christian called, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. It's my favorite apologetics book I ever read. It's the first one I ever read. And it's amazing. And I've given it to a lot of people. And it's amazing book. 

I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. And he was amazing friends with Charlie Kirk. He was actually standing right next to Charlie Kirk when he got shot. He was the man in the white hat who people are like, oh, he's making a hand signal to. No, this is Frank Turek. He's an amazing man and apologetics assist. 

And as you hear here, a wonderful father, like figure to Charlie Kirk. I want to play what he said first about Charlie's final moments and then go into this poem. 

Now, Here's what Erica wants me to relate on Sunday. This is going to be the hard part, but maybe also the comforting part. Charlie Kirk was literally like a son to me. I have three sons. He was like my fourth son. My three sons are a little bit older than Charlie. He was like my fourth son. 

So when he was hit, if your son got hit, what would you do? What would you do? I got in the car. Because if there was any way I could save him, I had to do something. I couldn't just take him. You guys got it. 

So I They got him into the side of the car. It was an SUV. It was the SUV we took over. And I'm on one side, and there's actually some video. There's somebody who's taking video of this. I'm on one side of the car, the right side, and they're getting Charlie in. 

So I run over to the other side, but the guy who was dragging him in is now blocking that entrance. So at that point, I run around to the back. I pop the top, the back gate open, and I jump in the back. The car lurches forward. Apparently, somebody jumped in the car. So the car lurches forward. 

So I almost fall out of the car. or the SUV. Then I grabbed the thing and close it. And there's five of us in the car now. Justin is driving. Dan is up front with the GPS. 

Rick has got him. Rick's on my left. And Brian is there. And I'm coming over the back seat. And Charlie's laid out in front, just right in front of me. And Charlie's so tall, we can't close the door. 

We drove four miles, I don't know, it's four something miles, all the way to the hospital with the door open. To this day, I don't know how Brian stayed in the car because we're just go, go, go. 

go, go. 

We're trying to stop the bleeding, you saw it. And I'm yelling, come on, Charlie, come on, come on. Meanwhile, my phone is still on. My son and daughter -in -law are hearing this whole thing. And his security team, again, Justin, Dan, Brian, and Rick, they love Charlie, but they're much cooler than I. I mean, they're just carrying out, they're calmly, but they're swiftly doing exactly what they were trained to do. 

Rick starts praying out loud. I'm praying out loud. We're yelling, come on, let's go, let's go, let's go. My son's hearing all this, and we're doing the best we can to navigate traffic. This is not a highway, we're on surface streets. And suddenly there's an ambulance coming toward us. 

And there was conversation in the car, should we stop? We're like, no, no, just keep going, just keep going. The doctor later said that was the right thing to do. Ambulance goes by us. We're still heading to the hospital trying to get there. At one point, somebody says, let's get there in one piece because we're just we're cutting through intersections. 

You know, we're just beeping the horn. This is not an emergency vehicle. There's no there's no lights. There's none of this. And I go, we've got to start CPR. So I try and start that. 

Now, he wasn't there. 

His eyes were fixed. He wasn't looking at me. He was looking past me right into eternity. He was with Jesus already. He was killed instantly and felt absolutely no pain. That's what I was told later. 

But of course, we had to try. By the way, there was just nothing, nothing any of us could do about it. We were giving him CPR, but nothing was happening. It wasn't like if we had better first aid or we had better medical facilities or we're faster to the hospital, we could have saved him. We couldn't. So if that's any comfort at all, Charlie didn't suffer. 

He was gone. He was with Jesus absent from the body present with the Lord. That's where he was. Now it is true. When we got to the hospital, And they started working on him right away. They did get a pulse back. 

And so Rick and I were just everyone's praying. We're just praying for a miracle. We had a we had a small sliver of hope. And the doctor later said that we got a pulse because Charlie was a very healthy man. But the shot was catastrophic. So 20 or 30 minutes later, the surgeon came out and said he was dead. 

Can't wait to hear what he's going to say on Sunday. Now I want to play this poem that I already recorded and it's about heaven. So I've recorded this poem and then right afterwards, my producer sent me this, that clip you just heard right there. And I was like, Oh, I got it. I got to put this in the beginning. So here is a poem about heaven. 

It's a poem by John Pierpont. He's a poet 150 years ago or so. It's called My Child. He says, I cannot make him dead. His fair sunshiny head is ever bounding round my study chair. He's always running around me. 

Yet, when my eyes now dim with tears, I turn to him. The vision vanishes. He's not there. I walk my parlor floor, and through the open door, I hear a footfall on the chamber stair. 

I hear him. 

I'm stepping towards the hall to give the boy a call, and then bethink me that he's not there. I tread the crowded street. A satcheled lad I meet, with the same beaming eyes and colored hair. And as he's running by, I follow him with my eye, scarcely believing that he's not there. I know, I know, his face is hid. Under the coffin lid. 

Closed are his eyes. Cold is his forehead fair. My hand that marble felt. O 'er it in prayer I knelt. Yet my heart whispers that he's not there. Quick pause, I'm halfway through. 

Nothing's really been said. I haven't heard anything said about Charlie Kirk's parents. So they're thinking that of their child. They have their emotions. This is from Erica's perspective, thinking of her children that now don't have a dad. And you've gone through heartache. 

This may be super relevant to your life right now as well and maybe what you need to hear. The poet says, I cannot make him dead when passing by the bed. So long watched over with parental care, my spirit and my eye seek it inquiringly before the thought comes that he is not there. When at the cool gray break of day from sleep I wake with my first breathing of the morning air, my soul up with joy to him who gave my boy then comes the sad thought that he is not there oh my goodness I don't know which of these is more heartbreaking when at the day's calm close before we seek repose I'm with his mother offering up our prayer whatever I may be saying I am in spirit praying for our boy's spirit though he's not there not there where then is he can we please have a turn in this poem not there where then is he The form I used to see was but the raiment that he used to wear. Clothes, they're just clothes. 

Raiment's just clothing. So the form, the thing that I see that I can't stop seeing running around, jump around me, climb up the stairs, whatever. The thing I can't not see, the thing I can't unsee is just clothes that he used to wear. The grave that now doth press upon that cast off dress is but his wardrobe locked. He is not there. He lives. 

In all the past he lives, in all my memories, nor to the last of seeing him again will I despair. In dreams I see him now, and on his angel brow I see it written, thou shalt see me there. Yes, we all live to God. Father, thy chastening rod, so help us, thine afflicted ones, help us to bear that in the spirit land, meeting at thy right hand, t 'will be our heaven to find that he is there. John Pierpont. my child, I can't wait to go to heaven one day too. 

MikeSlater . Locals . com. Transcript commercial free on the website MikeSlater .

I came across this poem the other day, and it may be helpful to you in a time of grief. 

I'm adding a short little intro here to the normal intro we normally do. I'm about to read a poem here. It's way sadder. There's moments of it that are way sadder than I even thought. So I just want to give a little emotional warning before this episode. Just brace yourself, prepare yourself. 

There is a turn in the poem, so it ends up joyful, but in the beginning, it could be difficult. Okay, now to the regularly scheduled podcast. Welcome to Politics by Faith. Thank you for being here. This Sunday is the memorial service for Charlie Kirk. I pray it is a beautiful service and moving and Holy Spirit led and sparks a revival and that God speaks through everyone who is speaking there and what needs to be said is said and heard by the American people. 

I came across this poem two days ago. There's a lot of things in here that I think are relevant. It depends where your perspective is exactly, but I think it can help a lot of people in a lot of different ways. It's a poem by John Pierpont, who's a poet 150 years ago or so. It's called My Child. He says, I cannot make him dead. 

His fair sunshiny head is ever bounding round my study chair. He's always running around me. Yet when my eyes now dim with tears, I turn to him, the vision vanishes. He's not there. I walk my parlor floor and through the open door, I hear a footfall on the chamber stair. I'm stepping towards the hall to give the boy a call and then be thanked. 

me that he's not there. I tread the crowded street, a satcheled lad I meet, with the same beaming eyes and colored hair. And as he's running by, I follow him with my eye, scarcely believing that he's not there. I know, I know, his face is hid under the coffin lid. Closed are his eyes. Cold is his forehead fair. 

My hand that marble felt. O 'er it in prayer I knelt, yet my heart whispers that he's not there. Quick pause, I'm halfway through. Nothing's really been said. I haven't heard anything said about Charlie Kirk's parents. So they're just thinking that of their child. 

They have their emotions. This is from Erica's perspective, thinking of her children that now don't have a dad. And you've gone through heartache. This may be super relevant to your life right now as well, and maybe what you need to hear. The poet says, I cannot make him dead when passing by the bed, so long watched over with parental care, my spirit and my eye. Seek it inquiringly before the thought comes that he is not there. 

When at the cool gray break of day from sleep I wake, with my first breathing of the morning air, my soul goes up with joy to him who gave my boy. Then comes the sad thought that he is not there. Oh my goodness. I don't know which of these is more heartbreaking. When at the day's calm close, before we seek repose, I'm with his mother offering up our prayer. Whatever I may be saying, I am in spirit praying for our boy's spirit, though he's not there. 

" Not there. Where then is he? Can we please have a turn in this poem? Not there. Where then is he? The form I used to see was but the raiment that he used to wear. 

Clothes. There's clothes. Raiment's just clothing. So the form, the thing that I see that I can't stop seeing, running around, jump around me, climb up the stairs. The thing I can't not see, the thing I can't unsee is just clothes that he used to wear. The grave that now doth press upon that cast -off dress is but his wardrobe locked. 

He is not there. He lives. In all the past, he lives. In all my memories, nor to the last of seeing him again will I despair. In dreams I see him now, and on his angel brow I see it written, thou shalt see me there. Yes, we all live to God. 

Father, thy chastening rod, so help us, thine afflicted ones, help us to bear that in the spirit land, meeting at thy right hand, t 'will be our heaven to find that he is there. John Pierpont, my child. I can't wait to go to heaven one day too. Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Transcript commercial free on the website. Mike Slater dot locals dot com.

It's quite shocking how many people have celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and celebrated in vile ways. Should these people be fired from their jobs? 

A couple of Bible verses that have come to mind recently. 

Someone sent me this one, John 12, 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12, 24, the line before that, it's Jesus talking about his death. He says, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Let's read the rest of what Jesus said here. Him, my father will honor. 

" This line right here about he who loves his life will lose it and who hates his life in this world will keep it in eternal. Like that's, that's just so as good as it gets. Um, we are called to, we are sojourners and pilgrims. Our home is heaven, not this earth. Hebrews 11, talking about people in the old Testament. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims. 

on the earth. 

You know, I've never lived through a martyr before. I've never seen, I've read about it, but I've never seen how one martyr can change millions of hearts. That in his death, people can buy Bibles for the first time, go to church for the first time, do all this, like, like they've, like, they've never done before. Like it's never happened. And I pray it's a revival. I pray it's just the beginning of a revival, a martyrdom where you can spread the gospel, spread the truth of the Bible, God's word so well in your life. 

Like, I mean, so as in like a certain amount of well, but then in your death, It's infinitely more. How amazing is that? And I'm certain that on Sunday during the memorial service, there's going to be a lot of accurate talk about Charlie Kirk being home. Never lived through a martyr. It's wonderful. I want to share another biblical illusion here. 

We talked on the show today about cancel culture and how there's a lot of people out there celebrating the death, the assassination of Charlie Kirk saying, you know, vile, like wicked, horrible stuff. Not even like he deserved it. That's bad enough, but just like, Oh, like he's dead. Oh yeah. It's awesome. 

Like, like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. 

Something is wrong with you. And. A lot of these people who are doing this are like teachers and nurses and professional class people, and they're being fired from their job. So the question is, should someone be fired? If you celebrate the death, the assassination of Charlie Cook, should you be fired for it? We talked about that for a good amount of time on the show today. 

The answer is yes, by the way. It's wholesale different from what the left did to conservatives for all these years. What the left did to conservatives, first of all, it was, they'd scour social media posts from decades ago to try to get something you said then that could be insulting or offensive now. They're like, oh man. The left did it to dead people. 

They canceled Dr. Seuss. They canceled Pepe Le Pew. They canceled Uncle Ben off the Rice Box. They canceled Aunt Jemima. I mean, they canceled fictional characters. That's how dedicated they were to just destruction. 

Then when Donald Trump won in 2016, and they've done this too with like Rush Limbaugh before, but in 2016, they tried to destroy every conservative group and media outlet that existed just for being, just for existing. Wouldn't say anything different. It was like they said something offensive in particular. It's just, oh, you're conservative, you're gone. And we don't do that. We're not doing that to the left. 

We're not saying, oh, you're a pro -choice, then you should be fired. It's, oh, you're celebrating the assassination of someone. This is a big problem. If you think that that's a big, big problem, And also, I don't trust you. I don't trust you anymore. As a teacher for shepherding the hearts and minds of kids, you're gone. 

You can't do that. You can't have that job anymore. Or if you're a nurse taking care of someone who might be a conservative, you're celebrating. I mean, you're supposed to be for life. You're celebrating someone getting shot in the neck because of their political beliefs. And I come in, I have the same political beliefs, and you're my nurse. 

This isn't going to work. This relationship isn't going to work. It's a high trust relationship, and by default, We assume it works, but I can't assume that anymore. You can't have that job. Actually, let me play this. This woman, she called in on the show today and had a really good story here. 

This is Becky. Becky is in Florida. Becky, how are you? 

Good, good. 

It's been a rough week, that's for sure. 

It has. 

So I am a nurse and not long before the election, I had a patient come in. She was having a textbook heart attack, happened to be a slow night. So I was able to spend time with her, you know, talk to her. We get her up to the cath lab to try and get a stent in. and she starts decompensating and I spent probably five minutes rubbing her head, talking to her about she said they were making hamburgers when this all happened, what was she going to have, what was her daughter's name and trying to say this without crying and I told her, we're going to put you to sleep until we can get this procedure done and she died and I was the last person to speak to her and that really hit me but what hit me And why it came back around was that she was wearing a Kamala Harris shirt, and I didn't care. And I have seen so many of my health care friends celebrating Charlie's death. 

And I think to myself, if I came in with a MAGA shirt or a Charlie shirt or a Trump shirt or whatever, even a God bless America shirt, are you going to treat me differently? Because it sure seems like it. And my job, I don't care what your political leanings are. I don't care if you're trans. I don't care if you're gay. I don't care. 

My job is to save your life. And I didn't care that that woman had a Kamala Harris shirt on, because you know what? She's still a human at the end of the day. And it just amazes me how many people have, you know, teachers, like you said, or nurses or doctors. Just your job is to save lives. not to celebrate death. 

And I don't know, it just, it just came back to me this week because I just, I didn't care. She was a human and I hope, and sorry to keep talking, but I didn't even want to be in that assignment that day. I tried to switch and talk about a God moment because I took the time to be with her as she died and give her memories that she will hopefully hold on to forever. 

If a nurse celebrates the assassination of Charlie Kirk, will they treat with as much love and care a conservative who is a fan of Charlie Kirk? One of the most powerful examples of what Becky told the story over there was the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. And the murderer there was then brought to a hospital nearby in Pittsburgh and was treated, cared for by doctors who go to that synagogue. This is who we are. And wicked people who reveal themselves, and I'm glad you are revealing yourself, actually. We have no more patience for this. 

We can't have it anymore. Now someone called into the show and said, uh, Oh, let me give you one more example. What the left is doing. They're talking about, Oh, what about Melissa Hortman? She was the Minnesota speaker of the house who was assassinated or killed, killed, assassinated in her house by this guy who went around to a couple of different politicians houses and tried to kill a bunch. Well, and they're like, Oh, where were you then? 

You know, where were you when this Democrat got, got killed? Not celebrating it. Let's start with that. Not jumping up and down, not saying you deserve it. So end of story. I don't even know what you're talking about. 

Like, what's, what's your point? You are celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Oh, what about Melissa Horthman? 

Okay. 

Like horrible. Like what do you want? I mean, I said it was horrible. I'm not celebrating it. Like you guys are. 

What do you like? 

What do you even bring that up for? Someone called in and talked about how it's good that people are speaking because it separates the chaff from the wheat. And I always liked this imagery in the Bible. Uh, you have wheat, that's the good stuff. And the outer layer of it is the chaff and it's got to be separated. So they would smash it on the ground. 

And the chaff would, because it's light, fly up in the air and float away and the wind would take it out. And the Bible often talks about separating the worthless chaff from the very valuable grains. Psalm 1, the wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Let's drive the chaff away. Not just because of someone's political belief. No, no one's saying, Hey, if you don't, if you didn't subscribe to Charlie Kirk's Twitter page, then you need to be fired. 

You can disagree with everything he's ever said. Let's ask for some humanity. Here's the big. Wheat and chaff reference. This is Matthew 3 11, John the Baptist. He says, I baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear the threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. Chaff, he will burn with unquenchable fire. Don't be chaff. And in America right now, it's okay to have people separated. It's good to separate the wheat and the chaff. the chaff. 

I'll end with this that I read in my new book, Scripture Emblems and Allegories. This one is about the sun of truth. And it's an image of a mountain with a sun up in the air and two men, one walking towards the sun, one walking away from the sun. And I am going to quote all of it. It's two pages. Seeware, among the mountain heights, a long straight path stretches itself till it's lost in the distance beyond. 

The sun pours wide his rays of living light, illuminating the path and shedding luster all around. Two travelers are pursuing their different routes. One advances towards the sun. His shadow is behind him. His path is bright before him. As he proceeds, his shadow diminishes while his path grows brighter and brighter until directly overhead, The sun pours the full tide of its glory upon him and the whole of his shadow disappears. 

The other has turned his back upon the orb of day. See, he follows his own shadow. It darkens his pathway before him. Now he leaves the track. His shadow lengthens more and more. He wanders into sunken labyrinths and finally loses himself amidst the darkness of night. 

How many people have you talked about recently, whether it's the trans church shooter recently or the guy, the train in Charlotte who stabbed the woman in the neck or this is a murder of Charlie Kerr. There's so many, so many stories. Even ones that don't get as much headlines like carjackers in DC. It's like, whoa, you have lost yourself amidst the darkness of night. This emblem represents the moral world. The sun designates the sun of truth. 

The travelers denote first those who follow the light. Their path shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Their souls become enlightened. vivified and purified. Darkness disappears and heavenly light shines on their souls forever. Secondly, it signifies those who turn their backs on the light and who, as they journey, wander farther and farther from his bright beams. 

Their path becomes darker and darker. Their shadow lengthens as they proceed until having forsaken altogether the way of truth. They lose themselves among the wilds of error and perish in the darkness of everlasting night. They perish in the darkness of everlasting night. Where shines the sun of truth? In the Holy Bible. 

The scriptures are a light to the weary traveler, illuminating all his goings, pointing out his proper path, and showing where the mountains of error lift up their desolating heads. This sun of truth shines on the traveler himself. It discovers, oh, this is so good. It discovers his ignorance, guilt. This is so important. The light doesn't illuminate how great I am. 

This book was written in the 1850s. They had it right there. It's not like, oh, the sun. I'm so glad the sun is shining on me. I'm awesome. I am great. No, the sun of truth discover, it causes the person to discover his ignorance, guilt, danger, helplessness, and at the same time, his immortality. 

Again, it shines and he beholds Calvary with all its weeping tragedies. It reveals to him now his wisdom, justification, sanctification, and redemption, where shines the son of truth and the person of Jesus Christ. He who wisely chooses, uses the light of the scriptures will be led to contemplate him who's the light of the world, the son of righteousness, the splendid glory of Jehovah, the way, the life, and the truth. The Christian, following the light of the glorious sun of truth, discovers ever -opening mines of richest knowledge, fountains of living waters rolled or treasures at his feet. Trees of life overhang his pathway and drop into his lap their golden stores till at length he beholds the opening gates to the new Jerusalem, where light and truth, their mystic powers combine and over the realms of love forever shine. The infidel," his last paragraph here, the infidel, turning his back upon the light, walks in the vain shadow of his own opinions. 

Oh, I got to read this on the radio, right? Don't people need to hear this too on the radio? Walk in the vain shadow of his own opinions. Me, I'm perfect. I know everything. I know what's right. 

Darker and yet more dark. I am God, says Satan. Darker and yet more dark the shadow grows. He waxes worse and worse. One truth after another is given up. One lie after another is embraced. 

Farther and farther he wanders from God and bliss. And finally he takes his fearful leap in the dark and finds himself, contrary to his expectations, in outer darkness, where there's weeping and wailing and woe. We need to be people who follow the light always in every way. And the more we do, the more we recognize our failings, our weakness, how much we're drowning, how much we need to be saved and how grateful we are for a savior. Mike Slater dot locals . com transcript commercial free on the website. Mike Slater dot locals .