Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Hebrews 12:1 NIV
When my son was young, I brought him and a friend camping in the mountains. They were make-believe panning for gold at a children’s activity when a summer storm blew in. Dark, inky clouds hurtled towards us as we stood on a ledge and the thunder burst over the mountain sounding like it had shattered the granite slabs of the mountain’s face. But we were only a few feet from a solid and safe shelter. So we stood and watched the approaching storm.
There was a moment when we were suddenly engulfed in fog. A mist, thick and heavy, surrounded us, clinging to our skin and slightly dampening our clothes. We were standing in a low hanging cloud that had seeped down the mountain, preceding the storm. It was in amazement that I realized that I was actually standing in a cloud.
There is something remarkable about realizing you have been standing in a cloud. You feel like you have stood in the sky. Like you are being lifted up. And you are.
When a person is baptized, they confess their faith in Christ. But confession implies that there must be people to confess to. That the person being baptized is speaking to someone or to several people. And they are. They confess to witnesses. A cloud of witnesses.
As we stand together as the Body of Christ, we stand as a cloud of witnesses. We witness each other’s joy and we witness their pain. We witness faith and we witness doubt. And we surround one another like the mist on a mountain, with a presence both soft and gentle and undeniable. We are perhaps little droplets of the living water that Christ gave to us, tiny particles of a great cloud and we are bound together in it.
We join together through our daily grind and our glorious celebrations. We hold on together in our worst days. We are wisps of cloud, clinging to and soothing each other, called to love each other as we have been loved by Christ. We are lifted when we love one another. We are lifted when we are present for one another.
We confess Christ and we are lifted. When we care for one another, we are lifted. When we praise and when we weep together, we are lifted. When we pray together, we are lifted. Christ has given us this to do, to love and serve one another. And when you do, it feels like you have been able to stand in the sky.
Written by Janet Keefe
