Welcome to The Light, your quiet-hour reflection.
In Brooklyn, grief has settled over Flatbush Avenue, where a building collapse on Veterans Day claimed at least eight lives and left seventeen others injured, among them seven children. It is a reminder of how swiftly the ordinary afternoon can become the unthinkable, and how fragile the structures we trust to hold us truly are.
Across the country, in a Southern California city long shaped by its commitment to inclusion, a new ordinance now allows adults in polyamorous relationships — three or more people — to formally register their partnerships with the city. It raises quiet, enduring questions about how communities choose to define belonging, family, and the bonds we ask institutions to witness.
And in a story that asks harder questions still, three women have come forward accusing The Salvation Army of failing to act on warnings about a youth pastor who allegedly abused them. Their voices surface something we are called to sit with honestly — the distance that can grow between an institution's stated values and its willingness to protect the most vulnerable in its care.
That is this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
