cloud of witnesses

sometimes funerals pull back a veil
give us glimpses of vibrant lives

hidden deep within white crowns and furrowed faces
stooped shoulders, shuffling steps

when we come late into a life
there are more echos then adventure

but when you have watched the jaunty steps begin to falter
heard the words falter when they once were clear

the echos carry a beauty forward
that help us remember

and some simply are not given sufficient
days for the adventure they contain

as we travelled on such distant pathways
we heard news of passings that made us pause to mark the days

Cam Fuller
Uncle Herb Klassen
Elvira Dueck

I've been thinking this morning about that cloud of witnesses
while looking at skies with clouds that billow, scatter, gather, storm, stretch
from horizon to horizon

Southern Alberta taught us what a chinook arch looks like in the western sky
Saskatchewan is called the land of living skies
New Zealand is called (among so many other things) the land of the long white cloud

This cloud of witnesses ...

I will say their names 
let their lives continue to anchor and shape me 
with gratitude for walking faithfully in the days that were given