Page 9 - 2026 April / May Newsletter

Page 9 Southern Pennsylvania District

Stirring Up a Life With Meaning
When Winston Churchill once dined at a prestigious London restaurant, he tasted his soup and
promptly sent it back to the kitchen. “It has no theme,” he complained.

A good soup, he insisted, should have a theme. The same can be said of many things that matter: a
good book, a meaningful concert, a memorable film, a powerful sermon, a beautiful work of art.

It is also true of a good life.

Joan of Arc, the French martyr, declared, “God must be served first.” That was her theme. St. Paul
wrote to the Corinthians that he desired to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ (1 Corinthi-
ans 2:2). That was his theme. Again and again, we see that every truly devoted Christian lives with a
central, guiding focus — an overriding theme.

That realization invites a personal question: What is ours?

Pastor and psychologist Dr. Curtis Nigh offers this challenge: “If the heart does not have a noble or
goodly theme, then it develops an anti-theme.” In other words, if we do not intentionally shape our
lives around what is good and holy, something lesser will quietly take its place.

To be a Christian is to embrace a compelling, Christ-centered theme. It shapes our priorities, our deci-
sions, our relationships and our hope. It is not simply an idea we admire — it is the heartbeat of a life

lived for God.
Content shared from Churchart.com