In Witness and Knowing
How can we actively find and welcome the presence of others in our moments of bearing?
Psalm 72:3
Let the mountains give exuberant witness; shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Wednesday morning of last week, I woke, read the news, and took my dog for a walk. I felt despair as I moved, pausing to give her more pets than usual. Kneeling before her, I felt connected to some of life’s dearest parts: vulnerability, living without threat, tenderness, mutuality, basic needs met. My eyes met the mountains on the horizon. What have they witnessed? What powers have come and gone with their steady presence? What will they witness again? What will we witness again?
In the movie “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once,” there’s a powerful scene where the main characters, as rock formations on a mountain, simply bear witness. After chaos and frenetic motion, they find solace in just being. The greatest solace is that they are together in their witness and in their knowing.
How can we actively find and welcome the presence of others in our moments of bearing?
Thank you for your words of wisdom, my Friend. The earth is still rotating on its axis.