What's Up With That Texas Pride?

The pride in Texans is so very obvious. When we first moved here, I noticed it right away. The Texas star symbol was engraved on beautiful glass entry doors, on manholes in the street, and on highway overpasses. The Texas flag hung here and there and the Texas state shape was on jewelry, phone cases, and wall décor.

One of my daughters commented on how much people adored a “symbol.” I mean, we came from Idaho, and I never saw anyone wearing a necklace in the shape of the state of Idaho. I grew up in Oregon. Same thing. Never saw anyone wearing an Oregon necklace, much less have the shape of it painted beautifully as art on their wall!

It’s Texas pride.

It may seem odd to some – but I like it. Not that I want to worship a symbol, but that it shows respect and pride in something. And that, I think, we need a whole lot more of.

I have a cross on my wall and it is a symbol I respect. Just as I respect the shape of Texas that I wear around my neck. Because it stands for a place where I live and where I love others. It stands for a place that I am going to try to better, while I am there. Somewhere that I am invested into the community, and care about the people I walk amongst.

Can you imagine what would happen if more people had symbols as reminders of what they hold important to them? What if we had images of the cross engraved in our doors, or beautiful paintings of the Bible hanging on our walls? What if we had other images as reminders of what we prioritize in life? Images of a committed marriage, the value of a newborn’s life, or a symbol for respect and honor?

They are reminders, that’s all. Reminders of what we hold dear and what we stand for.

I’m thankful to be here in Texas - to see what pride in something means, and to take part in that. The world could use more people who take pride in where they live and in who they live among.

It may just be a symbol – an object – but what it stands for is what matters the most.