Teachings of Christ Mind

^28.1 We must speak about bearing witness to what you have learned. As this Course bears witness to the truth, thus must your lives bear witness. Lest this too be distorted, it must be discussed.

^28.2 This is not a contest. Bearing witness has become a spectator sport and it is not meant to be thus. How, then, you might ask, is the truth brought to those still living in illusion?

^28.3 Because inner knowing is both individual and collective, both personal and universal, this is the source of all proof. And so you believe coming together to share common testimony validates the proof of inner and collective knowing. You think shared beliefs amass, like a congregation around a pulpit, and even believe in a theory of mass that purports that when a certain magnitude of belief occurs, evolutionary steps are brought about. This, however, is not about evolutionary steps, and so a process intent upon bringing the collective to a fever pitch of belief through common testimony is not our aim.

^28.4 Trust and bearing witness go together, as the validation sought through bearing witness is a symptom of distrust. Few are chosen to be prophets, and the plethora of testimony taking place is brought about by innocence more so than by wisdom. This sharing of personal testimony has reached its zenith and will no longer be as welcomed or appreciated, so even were the intent of this Course to bring testimony together in such a way as to cause an evolutionary step, it would not work. Thus we must concentrate on wisdom, the wisdom of the heart.

^28.5 There is a trust that goes beyond proof, and beyond the need for any witnessing at all. This is the trust of knowing. Knowing is of the heart, and holds a consistency and certainty that the dawn of innocence does not contain. The dawn of innocence is but a recognition of the most common denominator of existence. As such, it is a beginning only, a true dawn that must, as the sun rises, give way to day and the brilliance and clarity of the wisdom of which we speak.

^28.6 This daytime of your journey is approaching. It is the time for the sun to cut through the mists of dawn. It is the middle of the journey, a time of teaching and of learning both. It is the time of planting and of harvest that comes before the time of rest. It is the time of celebration that comes before the quiet and the settling of the dusk.

^28.7 You would think of this as the time of work being done. This it is, but without the drudgery of time spent. It is your time to shine, to be a light to those who live in darkness.

^28.8 And yet it is a time of great humility. Of wearing the face of Christ for all to see. For here is wisdom gained and shared.

^28.9 Do you not see that any attempt to turn bearing witness into a convincing argument for your point of view, no matter what that point of view may be, makes what you have come to know pointless to you as well as to those you would convince? You think that when you are enlightened enough to know, you are also enlightened enough to know what to do with what you know. While you continue to think of a separation in terms of doing and of knowing, it is obvious this cannot be the case.

^28.10 As the dawn is unrestrained in its bursting forth, so has been your time of innocence. Not so the approach of day as the sun slowly rises and as slowly sets. This is a time of being both guided and restrained. A time of realizing that you can know without knowing what to do, and that this is not a mistake. Many reach this stage and, not knowing what to do with what they know, begin to doubt their knowing. This is a human response to a knowing that is not human in origin. Knowing is alien to you, and that is why you seek validation. Each validation is seen and felt as a reward, a prize, a confirmation that you believe allows your conviction to grow. Because you believe it, this is, at first, quite true. But now it is no longer the time to rely on conviction that comes from the witnesses you find along your way. They serve a limited purpose for a limited time. Now is the time to step beyond the validation that your teachers can give you. When this step is not taken, gatherings of witnesses abound, and what they bear witness to stops short of what they would see.

^28.11 Witnesses are for the mind and fall short of devotion, which is the natural response of those who know and worry not of what to do. This is a difficult stage as you feel obligated and inspired to act and yet awkward in your actions. We have spoken before of the desire to create that may arise as you begin to enter this stage of your journey. This is often compounded by a feeling of wondering what is next as you wait in anticipation for a calling of some kind, so certain are you of an impending challenge to action, of some necessary form to be given to what you carry within.

^28.12 Again, as when you feel the need to convince others of your belief, the need to give form to what is beyond form misses the point of what you have gained. You may be asking now, “Are you saying to do nothing?” At the thought of this you will be aghast and, what is more, bitterly disappointed. Again, as in the beginning, you seek a task to accomplish, forgetting that only you can be accomplished.

^28.13 When one thinks, “There is so much to say,” one forgets to listen. Be guided in your going out. Be restrained in what you say. Be attentive in your listening. Where you are is where you are supposed to be. The path to follow to all changes will be shown to you if you will but be attentive. If you follow the way that is shown to you, all uncertainty will end. Uncertainty is where difficulty lies. Certainty and ease as surely go together. There are no more decisions for you to make. There is only a call for a dedicated and devoted will, a will dedicated to the present moment, to those who are sent to you and to how you are guided to respond to them. One will be a teacher, another a student. The difference will be clear if you listen with your heart.