Samuel muted the television.

The silence that followed felt almost physical.

Then he said, “Even if the whole world says the same thing at the same time, it still doesn’t change who can really bring peace.”

He opened the Bible and read with the calmness of someone taking hold of a railing in high wind. He spoke about Jehovah’s Kingdom, about the danger of placing confidence in human arrangements, and about the need to remain watchful without running ahead. He reminded them that Jehovah had not left his servants without spiritual food, nor would he now.

Nathan listened with his hands folded tightly around his stuffed dinosaur.