Welcome to The Light, your quiet hour of reflection.
Bono, now sixty-six years old, spoke openly about his desire to keep God woven into the fabric of popular culture. As U2 marks its fiftieth anniversary, he acknowledged the tension in still wanting relevance, while insisting that faith deserves a place at the center of things, not the margins.
From that longing for meaning, we turn to something wordless and wild. This year's Wildlife Photo of the Year captures the circle of life in a single, piercing image. Nature offers no sentimentality, only truth, and sometimes the most honest thing a photograph can do is simply break your heart open and leave you there.
And in Oklahoma, a proposed Jewish virtual charter school fell short of the votes needed for approval from the state school board. Its organizers plan to appeal. The question of how public institutions hold space for religious identity without crossing into establishment remains one of the more delicate conversations a pluralistic society must keep having, carefully and honestly.
That's this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
