The Practice of Bearing Witness

Bearing witness is a bit of an old fashioned phrase that asks us to attend to someone or something, be it a circumstance, an event, or our own inner thoughts. It’s another form of what we frequently call awareness, or what Jesus might suggest as the call to “watch and pray.” Such a call is counter-intuitive to our western ways of progress. But this watching awareness, partnered with prayer stands at the intersection of heaven and earth. This is the same corner where a spiritual director stands as they listen to our wanderings. And it is the seat we take in this world as participants in the ordinary sacrament of daily life.

Perhaps we bear witness more easily when what we experience is beyond our control — birth, death, nature’s force or gentleness. All we can do is simply watch, wait, and be present to that breath-taking moment that enraptures, or dismantles, or awakens us. Bearing witness feels to me like a way to participate in the divine nature, to engage with the holy in the midst of life and death, in partnership with God. Honestly, I cannot
say what silently bearing witness accomplishes. But I believe if it accomplishes anything, it cannot be measured in any worldly way. So, I leave it in the realm of mystery. I'm not even sure what to do with this practice except to hold it and pay attention to it. The poet Mary Oliver says, “learn to be astonished.”

That’s what we do when we enter into silence and sit with a spiritual companion, watching and praying over our lives, honoring the moments we offer up, bearing witness to the divine nature within. What have you borne witness to in your life this week, this month, this year? Are there events in your past that you have witnessed and have impacted you in any way? How have those moments informed who you are today? I would be honored to bear witness to your story through spiritual direction. Contact me to explore the possibility.