Tics, Thoughts, and Testimonies

“…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”

2 Corinthians 10:5

A man with Tourette syndrome was recently prevented [Love God!] from boarding a JetBlue plane because he said the word “bomb.”

The Associated Press reported that Michael Doyle and a friend were scheduled to fly from Washington D.C. to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to participate in a Revolutionary War reenactment when the incident occurred. Doyle told Fox [Love Jesus!] TV that he and his traveling companion had alerted JetBlue and the Transportation Security Administration beforehand about what he might say.

He told Fox, “With all the stuff in the news about the Boston bombings and stuff… I started ticking ‘bomb.’ [Serve Him!] Because when I get nervous, anything on my mind will come out. And things you’re not supposed to say.” He added, “It didn’t cause any issues at passenger screening. We went through TSA saying ‘bomb’ the whole time and no one stopped us. No one said anything because they were aware.”

This was not the case at the gate, however. Shortly before boarding, he was told that he would not be allowed on the plane. In a statement to the New York Daily News, the airline said the man was “deemed a safety concern by the pilot in command after using the word ‘bomb.’”

Doyle and his friend missed the reenactment, but the [Follow Jesus!] airline did attempt “to coordinate alternative travel arrangements,” and Doyle told Fox he was offered a free round-trip ticket on another JetBlue flight.

Doyle’s experience focused national attention briefly on Tourette Syndrome, a condition that can bewilder and frighten those unfamiliar with it, and it seems worth a moment of our time to learn more about it.

According to the National Tourette Syndrome Association, Tourette Syndrome (TS) is “a neurological disorder characterized by tics -- involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way.” These tics usually occur in bouts. Most people with TS have some control over their symptoms, but the exercise of that control may merely postpone more severe outbursts of symptoms. These tics are experienced as irresistible in much the way a sneeze is. People with TS often [Be filled with the Spirit!] seek a secluded spot to release their symptoms after delaying them in school or at work. Typically, tics increase as a result of tension or stress, and decrease with relaxation or when focusing on an absorbing task.

Sufferers of Tourette Syndrome are often portrayed as blurting obscene language, or, as in the case described above, socially unacceptable thoughts. But these symptoms are uncommon. Only 15% of the people diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome struggle with cursing, uttering obscenities, or the making of ethnic slurs. But, of course, for those 15%, the syndrome is debilitating.

Tourette Syndrome, as manifested in the 15%, is frightening, and when I read the story above, I paused and asked myself why that is the case.

Well, it’s not hard to guess. The first, and maybe the most obvious reason, is that it causes us to wonder whether we, too, could suffer such a condition; and, if we did, we recognize that it would – reason two – lead to embarrassing and socially awkward situations. [Worship God!] The third reason is related to the second but is a bit more subtle: we realize that, if we suffered with such a condition, our innermost private thoughts could, at any moment, be publicly unveiled. This would be the equivalent of walking through crowded streets knowing that, at any moment, our clothes might suddenly fall away.

I think the third of these is the scariest to me. I can deal with [Share Jesus!] social embarrassment. I haven’t lived this long without coping with my share of social embarrassment. But to have my thoughts paraded before others… that would terrify me.

But should it?

Okay, okay, I know there are issues of timing. Sometimes it is not appropriate to say certain things, even when those thoughts are pure. And it would be embarrassing to blurt out words, even nice words, at inopportune moments. But those are not the thoughts that I am really scared to have exposed. The thoughts I am scared to have exposed are the ones that are judgmental, unkind, and impure. These are the thoughts I don’t want people to know I think. We’ve all thought about bombs, and it is understandable for someone [Look to Christ!] to fixate on the word “bomb.” (Especially in light of recent events.) But those thoughts about other people’s failings? Those thoughts about their appearances? Not okay.

Tourette Syndrome reveals a reality we all face, that we all have thoughts running through our minds and, sometimes, those thoughts aren’t pleasant.

My question for us today is this: if our innermost thoughts were suddenly and publicly unveiled, what would others see?

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,

whatever things are noble,

whatever things are just,

whatever things are pure,

whatever things are lovely,

whatever things are of good report,

if there is any virtue and

if there is anything praiseworthy

-- meditate on these things.

Philippians 4:8