Bearing Witness: Giving, Receiving, and Coming to Believe Truth

Sally and I recently attended an event that featured “dueling pianos,” a fun way to experience talented musicians in a more personal, interactive form. The evening was driven by audience requests and included a bit of karaoke, lots of crowd singing, and a closing time finale that saw the original audience dwindled to just four audience members, including yours truly. Perhaps a story for another time.

Amid all of the nostalgic music, one particular line from a song really struck me and has stayed with me for a number of days. “Oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of livin’ has gone.” Growing up in Indiana in the 80’s, John Cougar Mellenkamp’s music was background to dances, dates, and the slow process of coming of age. That line from Jack and Diane reverberated long past its release in 1982. As I heard it the other night, I thought to my self: is that true? Perhaps more accurately, do I believe that life is thrilling for a season, then reality happens and enduring becomes the mode of existence? Perhaps for a 31-year-old Mellenkamp, on the edge of stardom not-yet-achieved, it was written with a wondering eye toward a time when everything was still in front of him.

A few days later, I found myself in a conversation with Sally in which she shared a story of coming to a profound insight. Reflecting on the conversation, I wondered about truth, belief, and the process of coming to them. Was the insight true? Did I believe it? Why? Beyond that, I considered the journey of the conversation. What moves us to believe some things rather than others?

Fear not, I have no intent of taking us on an epistemological journey into the nether regions of sense and sensibility. What really struck me about the conversation was the notion of “bearing witness.” In the encounter, I saw two things happening: 1) Sally shared the journey to the insight, bearing witness to a truth to which she had come and 2) I received her witness in my listening and in my agreement. What is it to “bear witness”?

Bearing witness is often associated with faith but it is really just sharing the truth of our own experience. In its purest sense, it is not concerned with convincing but with revealing what has been discovered. To bear witness is the carry our discovery to others, offering it for their discernment. The motto of the Dominican Order (attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas) is “contemplata aliis tradere” – which means “to contemplate and to share the fruits of our contemplation.” Sally’s “witness” was to share the fruits of her contemplation – an insight she came to, then offered in love.

As I thought about it, I realized that she was not trying to convince me of the truth of her discovery, she was merely sharing. Though she likely wanted, maybe even expected, that I would agree or see the truth in it, the bearing of her witness was to the process of her learning, then the offering of its fruits which she had received. Reading 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…”, this morning reminded me of our conversation. Sally’s witness was a reason for her hope, for her discovery – she was sharing her experience of truth.

There is the witness, the truth of our experience which we bear, or bring, to others. But there must also be the receiver. Bearing also refers to receiving, or tolerating the delivery of a particular witness, or discovery. We can choose not to bear it, rejecting it because we don’t believe, don’t want to hear it, or simply are not paying attention. To bear witness in sharing a discovery is a gift to the other. To listen and receive that discovery is also a gift. For it to be efficacious, we must be willing to accompany with an openness to the experience of the other.

In the Christian tradition, the word Gospel comes from early Greek works meaning “good news” and the word evangelization means to proclaim the good news. Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith and bearing witness is frequently associated with the notion of evangelization. However, there are broader lessons here for how we come to belief in the truth.

Discernment is the process of determining truth. Do I accept or believe this witness? Perhaps more importantly, am I moved by it? This gets to the heart of human change which must ultimately be a change of heart. Change rarely occurs instantly. Coming to believe the witness of another is a process. There is convincing done by reasoning but we often resist reason; we have our own powers of rationalization which may reason otherwise.

Truth often begins as a seed which must find fertile soil and be allowed to grow. Bearing witness is offering the seed which must then be born, tolerated/received, by the other to be planted. Some element of the truth must be glimpsed – then we must choose to bear it or reject it. But discernment is also a process and time is necessary for hearts to change – coming to believe required space for the roots to grow.

Such is the process of belief and it applies to anything that is not immediately obvious to us. Whether coming to some form of faith, a shifting of our conclusions on a person, or any other entrenched belief. Change often begins with the bearing of a witness of the other – their experience or reason for hope – and our own soil. Are we willing to receive? Can we glimpse truth in their witness?

Bearing on the receiving end is caring enough to give it a chance. That may stem from some basis of trust, either in the character or the credibility, of the other. It may stem from something moving within us – our own experience which often prepares us to receive. The ground of our hearts is prepared in the challenges, barriers, and possibilities, opened and closed along our own journey, which ultimately determine how we accept or reject what is presented to us. We come to belief, and ultimately truth, through our experience.

We can intuit this for things of faith – religious beliefs that form and flow in so many ways. But there are many things we hold, and reject, as truth that are really matters of faith. Pillars of belief that are fixed through the witness of our experience or the phantom of our assumption. Perhaps that pillar is actually a preference – a comfortable acceptance that fits what we want. Truth may set us free but it will likely cost us something that was once very comfortable and only after a process of discomfort…possibly significant discomfort.

To what truths are we bearing witness? What discoveries are we sharing? More importantly, what significant truths are being shared with us that may be getting stuck in the filter of our intolerance? Intolerance which may be born of an unwillingness to listen or of conclusions calcified into the foundation of our heart? No, not all witness shared with us is truth. We must be alert to all forms of deception and misdirection. However, we are gifted with special powers of discernment, which applied prudently, can guide our hearts and minds toward truth. We come to find that we sense it in certain places, at certain times, with certain people.

Returning to Mellenkamp’s line, I sense an element of truth. Life might in fact go on past its thrills. But experience has taught me that there are many kinds of thrills and the joy of living runs far deeper than the exhilarations that come and go. Such is the tricky nature of truth and belief cast upon the imperfect human lens – we can muddle them so easily. However, it is the witnesses born and experienced over time that create deep roots. Here, we find the gift of wisdom, our surest path to understanding.