“A jeweler’s touchstone will last hundreds of years—even longer. Good spiritual touchstones also have an enduring quality to them—but touchstones can be misused, they can wear out, and like anything made of rock, they can sometimes used to harm rather than heal the world….
“The spiritual touchstones I trust are found in community. Sometimes we mine them together out of the hardness of our lives. Or they may be old touchstones we give new meanings after we understand how they sometimes fail to work.
“I know from my experiences as a UU that the best touchstones are alive. The best touchstones live and breathe as the people of a beloved community. In return, we know we are becoming beloved community when, together, we become living touchstones for each other. Let our lives be like those rocks and hold nothing false and empty. Let all our living be the rock on which each of us finds our greatest treasures and our deepest loves.” -Joel Miller, from “Living Touchstones”
When have you served as a living touchstone to help someone else refine their values? When has someone else done that for you?