Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…

This morning I’m struck by the phrase, “so great a cloud of witnesses” to describe people who have died in the faith. They surround us in the spirit, like a crowd of spectators watching us run the race of life and faith.

When I think about my cloud of witnesses I thing about people like my maternal grandmother Teresa DeLeon who prayed for me every day while she was alive. I think about the nuns who instructed me as a boy in Catholic school, sowing seeds of faith in me that would come to life many years later. I think about people like Dr. August (Auggie) Wenzel who was an important mentor for me during my seminary years. There are many more for sure, people whom God placed in my life to show me the way to the Lord Jesus and have preceded me to our heavenly home.

Who would you include in your cloud of witnesses?

Heavenly Father we all stand on the shoulders of faithful ones who have gone before us. This morning I thank you for their love, their kindness, their challenge, their desire to direct us toward your son Jesus, our Savior. Give us grace that we might do the same for others coming behind us. I can think of no other more important reward than that. I pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.