“Tick-tock. Tick-tock.”

What’s your favorite “ticking-time-bomb” movie?  You know, the one where an unsuspecting victim is counting on a valiant hero to show up just before a digital display, on an explosive device, hits zero.  I recently re-watched Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in “Speed”.  It ranks among the best of the genre because Dennis Hopper’s portrayal of one especially bad, bad-guy plants 5 separate bombs before the end credits roll.  It’s also tops because it’s especially effective in showing the unique stresses felt by each individual trapped on a bus that will explode if the speed drops below 50mph.  We love ticking-time-bombs….for two hours or so….and when popcorn is involved.

I was recently told, “You have a ticking-time-bomb in your mouth.”  The dentist didn’t want me to delay seeking out a root canal, so he chose the very specific warning. It worked and I began to faithfully take an infection fighting prescription and to quickly look into my options for the procedure.  In the process, I considered what it must be like to live with other sorts of ticking-time-bombs.  Can you begin to imagine the prolonged stresses of homelessness?  To be entrapped by a virtual ticking that never stops?

Sometimes the ticking is counting down the impending doom of a fragile physical ailment…or possibly marking the moments before an emotional or mental implosion.  Many residents come to the City Mission with a trail of relationships that hang by a thread.  The anxiety of financial stresses can combine with the painful remnants of friendships and family ties which have been severed.  I’m sure some residents arrive with a clock that has been running very low when it comes to the “minutes” still left in their spiritual faith in a loving God.

I like to believe that the Mission’s tireless efforts are able to lessen the anxieties for those who seek out help there.  Like Keanu Reeves stepping with a badge of authority into a dangerous situation, the staff can speak peaceful truths which drown out incessant ticking.  With no dental insurance and a dangerous infection, it took a team of family members, generous professionals, and even a former co-worker to aid me and solve some of my timely problems.  What a blessing to know volunteers, staff and donors combine resources at the Mission.  They take heroic action, diffusing dangerous situations each day for residents.

Ticking-time-bomb situations should only be entertaining at a movie theatre.  When we encounter real-life scenarios, let’s equip ourselves with compassion and work together to alleviate the stresses of others
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“Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control.

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.” 

-Horatio G. Spafford

Written by:  Lisa Crawford, community member