The Pastor’s Piece, Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

FCFI

September 14, 2025

Politics and tragedy seem to go hand in hand. In our history, four U.S. presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, killed on April 14, 1865. James Garfield, shot on July 2, 1881. William McKinley assassinated September 6, 1901 and died eight days later. And John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. While four presidents were assassinated, others survived assassination attempts including: Andrew Jackson in 1835; Theodore Roosevelt in 1912; Harry Truman in 1950; Gerald Ford (two attempts in 1975); Ronald Reagan in 1981; and Donald Trump in 2024.

I was four years old when John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas while in a parade. I don’t remember anything about it at the time but my older brothers tell me they remember. School was let out early that day because of it and when they got off the bus they raced up the driveway as fast as they could go to tell my parents, who had not yet heard until that moment. News wasn’t instant back then. We didn’t have a television set and the radio was mostly background noise. When I was ten years old, I did a report on his death which filled me in on the details, but not the motive. I guess we probably will never get to the bottom of his death.

When I was 9 years old, I remember I was all ready for school and was standing in the living room of our home, leaning against a corner post in a doorway. The TV was on and they were reporting the death of Martin Luther King Jr who had been assassinated the night before in Memphis, Tennessee. I had no idea what all the stir was about, just that an important political figure had been gunned down while giving a speech on a balcony. He was shot at 6:01 p.m. by a single rifle bullet. We found out about it 12 hours later while doing chores in the barn. Dad had heard it on the radio and we all came in to watch it on the news. I remember how somber my parents were. I can still see the looks on their faces. It was more than sadness. It was a deep, unsettling concern for our nation.

Two months later on June 5, 1968, just after midnight, Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of John F. Kennedy and the father of Robert F. Kennedy Jr was gunned down in cold blood from close range after giving a victory speech in California for winning the California Democratic primary for the 1968 presidential election. While walking through the hotel’s kitchen pantry on his way to a press conference he was shot several times at close range. He died 26 hours later.

As a child in the 1960’s (born in 1959) I was pretty-much oblivious to the reasons behind so much upheaval. Political assassinations seemed to be the norm (JFK, Malcolm X, MLK Jr., RFK). The Civil Rights movement was in full swing. The Vietnam War was in the news constantly. Israel and Egypt and fighting in the Middle East lead almost every newscast. There was the rise of the hippie movement, the Summer of Love and Woodstock and Women’s lib. The Space Race was also prominent as we rushed to beat the U.S.S.R.’s Sputnik program. Riots broke out in our streets and there were campus shootings taking place all time, or so it seemed. Airplanes were hijacked and the hijackers demanded they be flown to Cuba. We were a nation going through upheaval and change. And it wasn’t easy or pleasant. Violence, war, and division were the rule of the day.

During this time, I was just a child. We lived in a remote area of the country down a mile long dead-end driveway. I remember laying in the grass and making figures out of the clouds and seeing jet planes flying by five miles away in the overhead sky leaving long jet-streams behind them and wondering where all those people were going? Could they see me so far below? I remember finding my way to the living room at 1:20 most afternoons to watch the Cubs on TV. I remember winning a Sunday School contest and getting to go to Wrigley Field with three of my friends. I remember the Cubs going on an eight game losing streak in September of 1969 and losing the pennant to the Mets. I cried. I remember love, security, and joy as a child when all the political and cultural unrest was taking place. In fact, apart from the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy, I don’t even remember any of it. I was unaware. What a blessing that was!

And now here we are, 60 years later and political violence is still the rule of the day. My heart is breaking from the death of Charlie Kirk last week. Charlie was a brave man who went on college campuses and reasoned with college students from a Biblical perspective about the politics of the day. Last Wednesday afternoon, he was killed in cold blood for his beliefs. It is another sad day in America. We’ll get through it because that’s what we do. But it hurts. He leaves behind a loving wife and two small children and literally millions of people who respected and loved him. Me being one of those millions. RIP Charlie Kirk.

A prayer for Charlie’s family and our nation: “Dear Heavenly Father, We come before you with heavy hearts from this shocking news. We pray for Charlie’s wife, Ericka and their children – that You wrap them in Your tender love and comfort them in their anguish. We ask for Your peace to descend upon our nation and heal the hatred and violence. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

In Jesus name, Amen.

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin