Welcome to The Light, your quiet hour of reflection.
Debate continues in Washington over a White House-backed bill that some fear could quietly undo state-level protections for women's sports. A senator has already introduced an amendment to address concerns that the legislation, as written, might override laws banning transgender-identified males from female athletic competition.
From there, we turn across the Pacific, where Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee are raising alarms about South Korea's so-called fake news law. Their concern is that its reach extends beyond Korean borders, potentially chilling the constitutional speech rights of American citizens — a question with no easy answer in an increasingly entangled world.
And then, a quieter provocation. The Marginalian reminds us this week that none of this had to exist — not the mountains, not the music, not the eyelash catching light on a winter morning. We forget, because forgetting lets us function. But every so often, it is good to be stupefied by gratitude, to pause inside the unbidden wonder of simply being here.
That is this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
