Welcome to The Light, where we pause together at the edge of the news.
Somewhere north of the border, a relationship frays. American and Canadian trade talks collapsed overnight, and punitive tariffs will now move forward in both directions. Those who have watched this administration know the pattern well — threat, reversal, threat again — a kind of chaos that makes planning feel almost beside the point.
From economic uncertainty, we turn to something older and harder. In China, the wife of an imprisoned pastor from Beijing Zion Church speaks not of bitterness but of refinement. Cherie Geng describes her husband's continued imprisonment following last autumn's crackdown on underground churches as, in her words, a sacrifice to the Lord. There is a kind of faith that does not ask to be understood — only witnessed.
And then, in a quieter corner of the news, a Christian metal band named Demon Hunter has filed suit against Netflix over an animated series called KPop Demon Hunters, alleging trademark infringement. Their lawyers use the phrase existential crisis, which feels almost too large for a naming dispute — and yet, for a band whose identity is their name, perhaps it is not so small after all.
That is this hour's reflection. Carry the light gently.
