Welcome to The Light, your quiet hour of reflection.
In Texas, Southern Methodist University has withdrawn its invitation to host a Council on American-Islamic Relations event billed as unapologetically Muslim. The university, recently recognized as one of America's finest Christian institutions, cited the state's designation of CAIR as grounds for cancellation — a decision that raises tender questions about hospitality, identity, and where faith communities draw their boundaries.
From institutional tension we turn to something older and wilder. Aerial surveys off the shores of Nantucket have captured stunning images of marine megafauna moving through Atlantic waters — whales, sharks, and creatures of quiet enormity going about their ancient lives just beyond our shoreline. There is something humbling in remembering how much of the living world proceeds entirely without our notice or permission.
And in Nepal, floodwaters have displaced and devastated communities across the region, drawing prayers from believers around the world. Faith communities are lifting those affected in intercession, holding the particular grief of people whose homes and livelihoods have been swallowed by water — a reminder that compassion, wherever it originates, is never a small thing.
That's this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
