Witness

Growing up we were taught how to act right in public. You know, stand up straight, smile, stay neat and tidy, and above all else, don’t whine or complain. Better yet, keep quiet!

With those instructions fresh in mind we were taken to church and told where to sit in the pew. When to stand and when to sit were the next lessons taught. And above all else, when to be silent. Well that was easy; we were not to make a noise. I think I got the idea that any noise might disturb God and make bad things happen!

There were all those other people in the pews, as well. Most of them were all dressed up. The ladies even had hats on! Although some of their dresses were flowery – lots of colors – a lot of them were black and some dark gray. My grandmother visited from time to time and she wore those dark, somber clothes, too.

Now the men wore suits, of course, with dress shirts (white, there were no other colors!) and ties. Their shoes were polished and I noticed this because my dad almost always polished shoes on Saturday afternoons. His were always fresh and shiny for Sunday mornings at church.

I liked the singing. I also thought the organ was fabulous! Although the prayers were sometimes interesting, the sermons never were! In fact, I remember sermon time as the only time we were allowed to draw on our church bulletin. Mom shushed us but smiled at the meaningless scribbles on the bulletin. She turned her attention to the sermon but I could tell she wasn’t really interested in it, either.

Sometimes the sermons were special because my grandpa was the minister giving the sermon. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but everyone else seemed to. I do recall his voice droning on and on. I wondered when we could leave and go home to dinner. That gave me a reason for sitting still. I could even smell the roasted meat and dark gravy! And the table cloth, silver and crumb tray. We three kids always fought over who’s turn it was to wield the crumb tray and crumb knife. That was fun duty!

Back to sermons. I remember the focus on the Bible and its stories. I guess the minister was teaching the congregation things he thought they should know. I heard words like sin, forgiveness, witness, and tithe. I didn’t understand that last one but I came to understand the others a bit over time.

The witness thing was a struggle. Most ministers said something like living your life like a witness to what you believe. Hmmm. Wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I knew court rooms had witnesses and they talked under oath so it must be important. If you witnessed, you spoke the truth and swore to it. We were taught not to swear so I wondered about the oath business. Must be like some church thing. It you were told to do something in church it must be OK. Same in the courtroom.

Anyway, as years passed this ‘witness’ word and ‘forgiveness’ stuck with me. In high school I didn’t pay attention to the sermons but I sure was into the music. Later, in college, the same thing happened but then I began listening to the sermons more closely. They weren’t much different from lectures. Seemingly nearly an hour long, one person talked a lot about a subject, I took notes, and tried to make sense of it all back in the dorm. Eventually I did. Same with church. Sermons began to make more sense and I came to listen closely to them.

After college, sermons were much more important to the church experience. As an adult I came to know the ministers, too. And that alone made listening to the sermons easier and more interesting. Later in the morning we were encouraged to discuss the sermon if we wanted to.

Again, the term ‘witness’ cropped up over and over in the sermons. Finally I got it. We were to live our lives in accordance with our religious beliefs. Religion was to help us live our lives more fully. Our behavior and actions were to be guided by our religious beliefs.

We were told to love others and to give witness to that by being kind, pleasant and helpful to others. Just like we’d want them to treat us! Well that was neat and easy to understand. Oh, and we were also to give money to the church so its work and missions would be supported. I got that but not so much!

We were also supposed to live as though our religion was real. Demonstrate your beliefs, the ministers told us. Be honest and truthful. That is a witness action. Be charitable and loving. Helping others and donating money to good causes was a good example of that. But I was stumped beyond those two examples.

How was I to live a life of witness in the church? Now after 7 decades of trial and error, I think I understand this issue better. (Slow learner, you know!)

Here’s what I’ve come up with. Being a witness to what you believe is mostly done outside the building we call ‘church’. It’s a general way of seeing and acting in the world that is positive. In the presence of others I try to do what is right, not what is comfortable. Sometimes it means I rebuff idle gossip. Other times I share facts I have learned that would help others understand an issue better and discuss it better.

If a community evidences a problem, doing something about it is a good way to give witness. If a family is in financial trouble due to a health crisis, fire or storm damage to their home, we gather friends and neighbors and give that family direct assistance – clothes, food, paper products, help to clean up their home, or find temporary accommodations.

To fight hunger we donate food to local food pantries, or answer the invitation to work in preparing meals for the hungry, or even spend an evening or weekend at a soup kitchen.

Helping a community understand itself and nurture its own ability to organize and work for improvements is another form of witness. Sometimes that is speaking up at a city council meeting, or getting involved with youth work at the park district, or at church, or being an active member of the PTA at the kids’ schools. Other times that might be sharing a news note with the local paper. Or even writing for the paper regularly. Or helping others create and sustain a local newspaper for the good of the community.

The more I thought about it the more I realized that witnessing is really being active within the community and lending my hand to good works. Helping make good things happen is the theme of that work.

How simple is that? You don’t have to be in charge or turn over your savings account to someone else. You just have to spend time and attention with others making good things happen. Doing my part. Taking responsibility for a small task. Spending time with others thinking what a group could accomplish by working together. A joint exercise of mind and body. In time good things come from this interaction.

How conscious are we of this simple fact of witnessing? Do we make more of it than we need too? Does this prevent us from taking action? Or are you and I practicing and getting into the thick of things in our towns and villages?

I’ve found it makes my life exciting and much more meaningful just being involved. That’s reward enough. I don’t need to be in charge. My ideas to not have to win out over others. No, I just need to be involved and breathing the same air and passions as other people.

It’s been a fruitful time since I came to understand witness in this manner. Maybe my experience will help others gain the same experience?

June 12, 2015