March 2012 Newsletter

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Unshackled

Tim is putting the finishing touches on a mural in the Mission’s new Dayroom-Chapel. He discovered his artistic talent as a child in grade school. He never took any classes, he just developed his ability over the years by trial and error. Capability, however, does not always mean immediate success. Environment plays a big role in achievement.

Tim’s parents were alcoholics. His mother left him when he was 7-years-old; his father left when he was 13. He was then raised by his aunt and uncle. They were Christians that did not allow drinking. They wanted the best for Tim, insisting that he go to college. They refused to sign him into the Air Force when he was 17. When he turned 18, he joined on his own. Tim says his aunt and uncle then disowned him, just like his parents had. He said drinking heavily was considered normal in the military in the mid- 1960’s. It was a temporary escape.

Upon leaving the service, he said, “It was a natural transition into the Woodstock generation, my surrogate family.” He partied. He went to college, receiving certificates in metallurgy and electronics. He worked in chemical plants and television manufacturing. And always he drank, skipping from job to job. Tim was married and had two children, still he drank. He said, “I became my dad. I was disowned; I disowned.”

Tim is retired now, living in a rented room at the Mission. He volunteered at the VA golf course, until they recently closed it down. Now he paints signs and does wood carving like ornate walking sticks. He agreed to paint this mural with a sense of excitement and purpose. We discussed picturing Jesus as the Shepherd knocking at the door, Jesus walking down the path of life with His protective arm around a person, but it was this unshackled image that really said Gospel Rescue Mission. Tim was not sure at first. As he painted and contemplated the meaning of the mural, his own uncertainty came into view. He said, “I put the shackles on myself right after I got out of the service. I could have written on each link of the chain as I painted them an issue in my life: disowned by parents, disliked, unworthy, alcoholism, no faith, peer pressure.” Tim said that he believes in God, his relationship with God is not what it should be and somewhat reluctantly accepts that he is a sinner (like all humanity). He believes that God convicted him to stop drinking 20 years ago. He accepts God as the double edge sword that broke his bondage. He believes the Bible is the Word of God and he believes in the historical Jesus. But its the cross at the top of the sword its very artist stumbles over. Tim said, “I’m battling within myself about accepting Jesus and the cross. By seeing the mural come into shape, maybe it will come into shape in my life. I’m not a finished work.”

The mural is a message of evangelism, an image of our human condition and hope in Christ. Its ironic that the artist wrestles with the meaning and application in his own life; yet, it so anticipates the impact on so many others as we open our new dayroom and chapel. Still, it is paint on a wall. The Lord is in Heaven, He is convicting the unbeliever and living within the believer.