more on the cloud of witnesses

On most morning runs, I return toward home on the same street. One reason for that is I find that two people walk that same street at the same hour most days.

I know them both to have run back in the day. In fact, the man was a dedicated runner - he ran more than a few marathons and valued his running over his a few of his toe nails (his Birkenstocks revealed that the second toe nail always looked ready to fall off and in a perpetual state of black and blue).

He had quite a bit to do with the running thread that runs through the sermons these days at our church (he pastors that church http://orlandocommunitychurch.org/). On Tuesday, as I ran past him and his wife, we slapped hands and he said "good for you young man."

I cringed at that a little - I hardly pass for young anymore, but more important I sensed that he pined to turn in a few miles at a trot himself.

At the same time, his words and the slap of hands gave me a burst of adrenaline that got me a little high for the next quarter mile or so. I knew he 'd already run and that he knew how hard it was and that he recalled it with joy. That gave me a boost that furthered me down the road.