Charlie Kirk and the dragon

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “Fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. … What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon. ”

I used to wake up every morning and read the news. Every morning the headlines would change, but the message was always the same: The dragon was winning.

But then I left the world for two years and lived in a Catholic religious community. I woke up each morning and prayed the psalms with my fellow religious. Every morning the psalms changed, but the message was always the same: The dragon had been defeated.

At the abbey I was introduced to a new world where evil could be defeated. It is a world that each of us, no matter our state in life, can choose to live in. It is a world full of sacrifice, suffering, love, and victory.

Most of us fall back into the old world from time to time. It takes great courage to live exclusively in the new one, because while there is victory in the new one, there is also much suffering.

Even great heroes fall back sometimes.

A hero is not someone who never falls back into the old world. He is simply a man who on the last day chooses to return to the new one. He chooses to fight the dragon one last time.

When he finally defeats the dragon, the hero dies, and when he dies, he gives us all a glimpse of the new world. He shows those who have eyes to see that there is victory after death.

Charlie Kirk has given us a great gift. He has shown us the new world that Christ created by his death and resurrection. He has shown us a world that is full of suffering, sacrifice, and love, but perhaps most importantly, he has shown us a world where St. George kills the dragon.