Welcome to The Light, your quiet hour of reflection.
In the suburbs north of Dallas, a proposed Islamic development spanning thirty-two thousand square feet has drawn public opposition, with a local pastor and his son among dozens arguing that American heritage is rooted in Christian tradition. It is a moment that asks us, gently but urgently, what we mean when we speak of belonging.
From the realm of science comes a quieter kind of ache. Researchers have found that depression in older adults is linked to a shrinking of the hippocampus, the brain's memory center. The mind that forgets may also be the mind that suffers, and the two, it seems, are not always separate sorrows.
And then there is this, perhaps the most intimate story of all. A piece in The Atlantic reminds us that children arrive in the world entirely open, made for love before they are made for anything else. Cruelty, when it reaches them, does not simply hurt. It reshapes.
That is this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
