What Is Your Theme?
December 4, 2024
I took this picture while on a business trip to Ogden, Utah back in 2011. This painted horse, titled, “Hershey”, is part of the Trail to Pioneer Days horse project. Dozens of life-size fiberglass horses designed and by the area’s finest artists are on display. They lead the way so Spencer Fox Eccles Pioneer Stadium where Ogden Pioneer Days originated.
Ogden Pioneer Days is an annual celebration to commemorate the settlement of Ogden, Utah. The festivities each July include parades, concerts and the headline event, the Ogden Pioneer Days rodeo—consistently ranked as one of the top outdoor rodeos in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Each year, the rodeo draws more than 30,000 attendees.
Ogden Pioneer Days was established in 1934 as a celebration of Ogden’s early days—but, perhaps more importantly, to help secure the city’s uncertain future. The Great Depression had struck Ogden as hard as any other place in America. Amid the turmoil, Mayor Harman Peery devised a plan to capitalize on the rodeo interests of wealthy cattle ranchers, attract tourists and lift the burdened community’s spirit.[1]
What Is Your Theme? #hope #joy #writingcommunity Share on X
Hershey, much like all the other painted horses on the Trail to Pioneer Days has a theme. Hershey’s theme is not that hard to figure out, is it? It’s pretty clear that all of the candies painted on the horse are made by the candymaker, Hershey. As a bit of trivia, The Hershey Company has a huge distribution center located in Ogden, so it also makes sense that one of the horses is named after it.
As I looked at this horse and considered how all the horses had themes, I wondered about my life.
What is my theme?
Is it something I’d feel good about as I laid my head down at night? Would my children someday remember my theme and share it or hide it? Would it be something I would want on my headstone?
Followers of Christ came to be known as Christians. Many scholars say the original term Christian meant “little Christs.” Being called a “little Christ” in the first century wasn’t an endearing term, but one meant to belittle the followers of Christ. Christians lived a different lifestyle than those around them who were not Christian.
The Christian lifestyle, one reflecting walking in the Spirit, was intended to look a certain way. And what would be painted on us to show our theme as Christians if we were part of the Trail to Pioneer Days? Maybe something like the following.
“…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)
These are all words that should portray our Christian lives.
My prayer is that as we live our days here on earth, we live them so that our theme is easily understood and recognized as followers of Christ.
[1] https://www.ogdenpioneerdays.com/about/
