Cornerstone or Touchstone – We nailed it
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:22-23 NRSV
Becky and I are about to embark on a journey into a new direction for our future.
After living wherever God has led me the last nearly 40 years (38). It is now time when God has led me/us in a new direction.
We all have choices with directions when we start our lives and each daily journey. Walking the dog earlier this week I noticed again the telephone pole that stands on our corner… it is visibly leaning toward the South as the south side of it is literally covered with nails, staples and screws. It sits there on the NE Corner of our intersection. Capturing sunrises and sunsets, the signs are long gone, but the metal remains. Gone are the signs that will return this summer announcing the location of a garage sale, or a rummage sale, or a for sale by owner car or home. There have been missing dogs and cats. I saw on the internet someone found a sign on a post that showed a picture of a horse. It read, “This is what I found and I’m not giving it back! So, don’t call 701-555-1212!” 😉 Another one said, “Missing – half of this poster!”
Native Americans have a different way to describe directions. This colored chart explains the four directions they honor. Most new cars come with a navigation system. Gone are the days when you would pull into your neighborhood gas station or rest area to pick up a road map or a city map to help us find our way. Young people have no idea how good they have it.
The need for sharing news and directions will never get old. People will always have something to sell, something to find, block parties and lemonade stands to promote or locate. In colonial times they had town criers who shared the news of the community. As in the Netflix film, “News of the World”, our God at the Movies last month told the story of Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd played by Tom Hanks. Captain Kid traveled from town to town sharing the news of the world with folks who either could not read or could not get the papers to read from more populated civilization and government news.
In the first attached picture, curiously; I counted three screws in the ten-inch area of remnant metal. Do you see them? Who in the world takes the time to screw their note into a telephone poll? Mostly they are nails or staples, hundreds and maybe thousands of metal piercings. Touchstones are what I was thinking about when I began this article. Not that people come by and touch that pole on purpose, more often like I say they are crying out for attention. Still, I remember my Disciple Bible Studies I’ve led over the last 40 years. I started as a summer intern in Claremont, Hecla and Houghton in my sophomore and junior years at DWU, and Parker, CO as the youth director my freshman year at Iliff and Potter, NE in my 2nd and 3rd years at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Then Arlington/Lake Preston, Harrisburg, Minot Vincent, Fargo Faith, a salesman for Olon Mills Church Directories, to a Chaplain at a Catholic Hospital and 2 Nursing Homes, to Vermillion 1st UMC to Milnor, Wyndmere and Sheldon on the ND side of the world. In those years of classes we talked about the Mezuzah that is posted on each doorway throughout Jewish homes except closets and bathrooms. They would touch them as they entered the room.
Some have called these touchstones, signposts, benchmarks, and doorposts. For Christians they are the familiar places or even people who touch our lives. As I drove from church to church, I was comforted by the landmarks along my journeys. And the old “Smith” farm, there is absolutely no proof it ever existed now. Still, it’s etched in people’s memories. Yes, the people that made the church the church; some have passed on to that great cloud of witnesses. Whether buildings, trees or people. A few remain. Meanwhile, "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
Like the nails, staples, and screws on this wooden icon. All of us are a little like them. We are all either a little bent, broken, rusty, galvanized, missed, screwed in, fixed and/or pounded out of shape by our experiences. Some of us are always right in the middle of it all, while others of us are on the outside looking in, always on the edges. So many variables, each uniquely different. Multipally colored yet together we create the tapestry of life. Even a Christian’s life is hard sometimes; and the days of retirement are created so we can take in the beauty of God’s splendor in all its extravagance and fullness. My/our prayers continue to be with my “connectional family of Dakotas Clergy and Laity” and the surrounding area who made me who I am and continue to be, as you, we all are guided by God in new directions. For all this I am thankful for the “buggy ride” we travel.
Looking forward with you for the ‘touchstones’, bumps, curves and detours God has for our next journey, praying with every breath for peace,
Rick (and Becky) Pittenger
