My cloud

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

I am not a big fan of the artwork of jim dine but went in high school to a large retrospective at the cincinnati art museum anyway. Always in these situations I am surprised, because there i encountered a painting that has lived in my heart for the better part of a decade. It embodied this text from Hebrews. Though I cannot recall the title of the work, I can picture it clearly and recall the exact emotions of standing before it. It was almost exclduvely black paint and from far away recalled a swarm of bees or a giant flock of birds. Close up, the viewer sees that those birds of bees were names... Jim Dine's cloud of witnesses.

Being in the nati and Indy reminded me of the many many overlaping clouds that support me from that part of the world. returning to cali reminded me of the clouds that have formed here, much to my delight. without amy of these clouds, I would big be whom I am. Without all of them, I would be nothing.

So to all of you who are in those clouds in big and small ways, thanks for bringing me this far and I know that you will carry me farther, making the rest of the race possible