Welcome to The Light, where we slow down and sit with what matters.
A pastor in San Antonio is inviting the anxious and exhausted to look backward in order to move forward. Max Lucado's new book draws on the life of the prophet Elijah, arguing that the ancient declaration that the Lord God of Israel lives remains a steadying answer to the particular chaos of our modern moment.
Across the country in Baltimore, a different kind of declaration is drawing attention. Quarterback Lamar Jackson posted a quiet but firm statement this week — if it's not from Jesus Christ, he doesn't want it, and he won't bend his faith for anything. For a two-time league MVP, that kind of public stillness about what he values most is its own form of courage.
And then there are the stories that ask something harder of us. A former information technology consultant who worked with a church in California has been sentenced to forty years in prison for secretly filming children in his care. It is a reminder that institutions of trust carry a weight of responsibility that, when broken, leaves damage no sentence can fully measure.
That's this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
