A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Andy Whitman on saints:

Catholics really understand this “great cloud of witnesses” idea. So do the Orthodox. We Protestants usually miss it, and tend to think that the Church begins and ends with our own noses.

But it does not. It has existed now for 2,000 years, 100 generations of Christians who have gone before us and shown us how to live life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

It’s not my business or my place to determine sainthood. But sometimes it shines forth, as it is apt to do, and I think it’s okay to recognize it when one sees it. Here are some of the saints I’ve known, and who have gone before me

As is to be expected from Whitman, it’s a beautiful and moving post, and it even references one of my favorite hymns.