There are touchstones on the calendar: holidays, birthdays, seasons, sports events, celebrations, days of the week. We count on certain things to happen at certain times. When our personal lives are chaotic, we can count on the familiarity those times and occasions. They are all part of the cadence and rhythm of our lives: Easter, Christmas, Memorial Day, football season, graduations, vacations, Sunday church. These touchstones help us reset and regroup. They help restore us to normal. We lean on them and count on them as never-changing. We never thought we would lose all these predictable points of reference. Most are gone for now, and we wonder when they will return.
There are also touchstone places. We can return to a house, a city, a park, a college and it brings back memories. Right now these touchstones are not removed, but we are removed from them.
People are also touchstones for us. We are also separated from them more than ever. Nearly everyone is hunkered down at home.
So, what touchstones are left for us now?
Nature
We have the natural changes of the days and seasons: the sun rises, spring comes, rain falls, gardens grow. The natural world continues as if there were no virus. We can find peace in the predictability and surprises of creation.
Family
Hopefully the people we love the most are at home with us. Or they are making an extra effort to connect. We are turning to the people we can count on. Call on those people who matter to you. Be there for family. Think about Bill Withers' "Lean on Me." We all need somebody to lean on.
God
There's nothing like a loss to turn our thoughts to the deep stuff. For many of us, this ruthless interruption may be a godsend. Without distractions, we can hear what God is saying. He has to be our foundational touchstone. He truly never changes.
It's time to do a gut-check on our touchstones.
