diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index f273e57a7..437b4a4a6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -20,10 +20,13 @@ Friendly reminder, we have a [bug bounty program](https://hackerone.com/tendermi
 
 ### FEATURES
 
+- [rpc] [\#6717](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/6717) introduce
+  `/genesis_chunked` rpc endpoint for handling large genesis files by chunking them
+
 ### IMPROVEMENTS
 
 ### BUG FIXES
 
 - [light] [\#6685](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/6685) fix bug
-  with incorrecly handling contexts which occasionally froze state sync.
+  with incorrectly handling contexts that would occasionally freeze state sync. (@cmwaters)
 
diff --git a/light/client.go b/light/client.go
index 92b6edcf8..525d21457 100644
--- a/light/client.go
+++ b/light/client.go
@@ -1152,14 +1152,19 @@ func (c *Client) compareFirstHeaderWithWitnesses(ctx context.Context, h *types.S
 and remove witness. Otherwise, use the different primary`, e.WitnessIndex), "witness", c.witnesses[e.WitnessIndex])
 			return err
 		case errBadWitness:
-			// If witness sent us an invalid header, then remove it. If it didn't
-			// respond or couldn't find the block, then we ignore it and move on to
-			// the next witness.
-			if _, ok := e.Reason.(provider.ErrBadLightBlock); ok {
-				c.logger.Info("Witness sent us invalid header / vals -> removing it",
-					"witness", c.witnesses[e.WitnessIndex], "err", err)
-				witnessesToRemove = append(witnessesToRemove, e.WitnessIndex)
+			// If witness sent us an invalid header, then remove it
+			c.logger.Info("witness sent an invalid light block, removing...",
+				"witness", c.witnesses[e.WitnessIndex],
+				"err", err)
+			witnessesToRemove = append(witnessesToRemove, e.WitnessIndex)
+		default: // benign errors can be ignored with the exception of context errors
+			if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) || errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+				return err
 			}
+
+			// the witness either didn't respond or didn't have the block. We ignore it.
+			c.logger.Info("error comparing first header with witness. You may want to consider removing the witness",
+				"err", err)
 		}
 
 	}
diff --git a/light/client_test.go b/light/client_test.go
index 13d550de7..4a7503d7d 100644
--- a/light/client_test.go
+++ b/light/client_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package light_test
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -776,7 +777,7 @@ func TestClientReplacesPrimaryWithWitnessIfPrimaryIsUnavailable(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	assert.NotEqual(t, c.Primary(), deadNode)
-	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(c.Witnesses()))
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(c.Witnesses()))
 }
 
 func TestClient_BackwardsVerification(t *testing.T) {
@@ -1099,3 +1100,61 @@ func TestClientEnsureValidHeadersAndValSets(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 }
+
+func TestClientHandlesContexts(t *testing.T) {
+	p := mockp.New(genMockNode(chainID, 100, 10, 1, bTime))
+	genBlock, err := p.LightBlock(ctx, 1)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// instantiate the light client with a timeout
+	ctxTimeOut, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Millisecond)
+	defer cancel()
+	_, err = light.NewClient(
+		ctxTimeOut,
+		chainID,
+		light.TrustOptions{
+			Period: 24 * time.Hour,
+			Height: 1,
+			Hash:   genBlock.Hash(),
+		},
+		p,
+		[]provider.Provider{p, p},
+		dbs.New(dbm.NewMemDB(), chainID),
+	)
+	require.Error(t, ctxTimeOut.Err())
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.True(t, errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded))
+
+	// instantiate the client for real
+	c, err := light.NewClient(
+		ctx,
+		chainID,
+		light.TrustOptions{
+			Period: 24 * time.Hour,
+			Height: 1,
+			Hash:   genBlock.Hash(),
+		},
+		p,
+		[]provider.Provider{p, p},
+		dbs.New(dbm.NewMemDB(), chainID),
+	)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// verify a block with a timeout
+	ctxTimeOutBlock, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Millisecond)
+	defer cancel()
+	_, err = c.VerifyLightBlockAtHeight(ctxTimeOutBlock, 100, bTime.Add(100*time.Minute))
+	require.Error(t, ctxTimeOutBlock.Err())
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.True(t, errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded))
+
+	// verify a block with a cancel
+	ctxCancel, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	defer cancel()
+	time.AfterFunc(10*time.Millisecond, cancel)
+	_, err = c.VerifyLightBlockAtHeight(ctxCancel, 100, bTime.Add(100*time.Minute))
+	require.Error(t, ctxCancel.Err())
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.True(t, errors.Is(err, context.Canceled))
+
+}
diff --git a/light/detector.go b/light/detector.go
index a755cf68d..881242135 100644
--- a/light/detector.go
+++ b/light/detector.go
@@ -74,14 +74,18 @@ func (c *Client) detectDivergence(ctx context.Context, primaryTrace []*types.Lig
 			witnessesToRemove = append(witnessesToRemove, e.WitnessIndex)
 
 		case errBadWitness:
-			c.logger.Info("Witness returned an error during header comparison", "witness", c.witnesses[e.WitnessIndex],
-				"err", err)
-			// if witness sent us an invalid header, then remove it. If it didn't respond or couldn't find the block, then we
-			// ignore it and move on to the next witness
-			if _, ok := e.Reason.(provider.ErrBadLightBlock); ok {
-				c.logger.Info("Witness sent us invalid header / vals -> removing it", "witness", c.witnesses[e.WitnessIndex])
-				witnessesToRemove = append(witnessesToRemove, e.WitnessIndex)
+			// these are all melevolent errors and should result in removing the
+			// witness
+			c.logger.Info("witness returned an error during header comparison, removing...",
+				"witness", c.witnesses[e.WitnessIndex], "err", err)
+			witnessesToRemove = append(witnessesToRemove, e.WitnessIndex)
+		default:
+			// Benign errors which can be ignored unless there was a context
+			// canceled
+			if errors.Is(e, context.Canceled) || errors.Is(e, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+				return e
 			}
+			c.logger.Info("error in light block request to witness", "err", err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -118,7 +122,7 @@ func (c *Client) compareNewHeaderWithWitness(ctx context.Context, errc chan erro
 
 	// the witness hasn't been helpful in comparing headers, we mark the response and continue
 	// comparing with the rest of the witnesses
-	case provider.ErrNoResponse, provider.ErrLightBlockNotFound:
+	case provider.ErrNoResponse, provider.ErrLightBlockNotFound, context.DeadlineExceeded, context.Canceled:
 		errc <- err
 		return
 
@@ -155,7 +159,11 @@ func (c *Client) compareNewHeaderWithWitness(ctx context.Context, errc chan erro
 		time.Sleep(2*c.maxClockDrift + c.maxBlockLag)
 		isTargetHeight, lightBlock, err = c.getTargetBlockOrLatest(ctx, h.Height, witness)
 		if err != nil {
-			errc <- errBadWitness{Reason: err, WitnessIndex: witnessIndex}
+			if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) || errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+				errc <- err
+			} else {
+				errc <- errBadWitness{Reason: err, WitnessIndex: witnessIndex}
+			}
 			return
 		}
 		if isTargetHeight {
diff --git a/light/provider/mock/deadmock.go b/light/provider/mock/deadmock.go
index e32e6372a..dbf5b779e 100644
--- a/light/provider/mock/deadmock.go
+++ b/light/provider/mock/deadmock.go
@@ -2,14 +2,11 @@ package mock
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"errors"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/light/provider"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
 )
 
-var errNoResp = errors.New("no response from provider")
-
 type deadMock struct {
 	chainID string
 }
@@ -24,9 +21,9 @@ func (p *deadMock) ChainID() string { return p.chainID }
 func (p *deadMock) String() string { return "deadMock" }
 
 func (p *deadMock) LightBlock(_ context.Context, height int64) (*types.LightBlock, error) {
-	return nil, errNoResp
+	return nil, provider.ErrNoResponse
 }
 
 func (p *deadMock) ReportEvidence(_ context.Context, ev types.Evidence) error {
-	return errNoResp
+	return provider.ErrNoResponse
 }
diff --git a/light/provider/mock/mock.go b/light/provider/mock/mock.go
index 091f0abf8..0c3f08927 100644
--- a/light/provider/mock/mock.go
+++ b/light/provider/mock/mock.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/light/provider"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
@@ -60,9 +61,17 @@ func (p *Mock) String() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("Mock{headers: %s, vals: %v}", headers.String(), vals.String())
 }
 
-func (p *Mock) LightBlock(_ context.Context, height int64) (*types.LightBlock, error) {
+func (p *Mock) LightBlock(ctx context.Context, height int64) (*types.LightBlock, error) {
 	p.mtx.Lock()
 	defer p.mtx.Unlock()
+
+	// allocate a window of time for contexts to be canceled
+	select {
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		return nil, ctx.Err()
+	case <-time.After(10 * time.Millisecond):
+	}
+
 	var lb *types.LightBlock
 
 	if height > p.latestHeight {