It was as traditional as you’d expect from a stereotypical, Southern Baptist church in the Bible Belt of the Midwest.

The pastor in a three-piece suit, a robust choir complete with a guy who’d whistle solos on occasion (no kidding), and thick, plush carpet that always made me want to take off my socks and shoes.

And if the Yankee Candle Company wanted to make a scent named “Traditional/Conservative Church,” it would have smelled like this. What does traditional/conservative smell like? I don’t know, other than to provide you directions to this church.

Then there was the clock. I think every Baptist church is required to have one, to at least suggest a stopping time for enthusiastic and energetic preachers. This one though was, as you’d expect, traditional and conservative. At least, that’s how I’d describe a clock with a second hand that ticks.

With every second.

Tick, tick, tick.

Now normally, when the choir was singing, or the whistler was whistling, or someone was reading scripture, the clock ticked on without notice.

But the preacher’s speaking style lent itself to dramatic pauses. And every time he builds up into a crescendo and plugs in that dramatic pause:

Tick, tick, tick.

I occasionally caught myself timing the pauses. Three seconds was standard. Seven was a biggie. Eleven was the record.

Most of the time though, the pastor artistically mixed in the tick, tick, tick with the cadence of his baritone voice at a comfy 76 degrees, creating an environment more conducive to a nap than an epiphany.

But on this particular Sunday, the preacher caught my attention (if just for a moment) and made an observation that stuck.

Referencing giving and tithing to the church, he observed you can tell a lot about a person based on a dollar-by-dollar accounting of where they spend money on a regular basis.

What a person eats, where they eat it, what they do for entertainment, how much of their income is spent on necessities, how much is spent on frivolities, do they invest, can they invest, do they donate to church or charities, do they have kids, how old are they and a million other things about a person’s health and lifestyle can all be ascertained by reviewing a detailed check book registry. (Okay, I just dated the sermon, which was made some 20 years ago when people still used check book registries.)

The pastor pointed out the same principle could be applied to another limited asset: Time.

If we kept an hour-by-hour time registry, similar to a check book registry, it would be apparent quickly what was most important to us. Maybe family? Work? Personal development, be it physically, emotionally, spiritually or through education? Or maybe we would find out the uncomfortable truth how much time we spend screwing around, procrastinating and wasting time.

Regardless, I couldn’t help but think of that sermon while sitting in another old Baptist church, this time though for a very different reason: The Troy Board of Aldermen meeting.

Alderman Quentin Laws had just commented the Lincoln County Sheriff is cutting the Student Resource Officer program starting in August. If the city didn’t pick up the bill, there would be no police presence at our local schools.

Well, according to Sheriff Rick Harrell, that’s not true. While he is looking for alternative ways to fund the program beyond the current cost share with the school districts, he isn’t considering cutting the program.

However, as I sat there Monday night, literally less than an hour removed from editing a story about the new county offices opening on Front Street, I couldn’t help but think of that Baptist preacher and the tick, tick, tick of the clock.

I was envisioning a front page where one part of the county celebrates the opening of new offices, in a former bank building no less, while another considers eliminating a program vital to the safety of our children.

Ouch. Talk about bad optics. Disregarding the reality the money used for the bank building didn’t come from the general fund, it still would look bad and create a public relations nightmare that would have filled the We Love Troy and Lincoln County Facebook pages for weeks.

Fortunately, you’re not going to see that front page …at least not in its entirety this week as no one is talking about eliminating the SRO program. Again, at least not this week.

But different entities, be it board of aldermen like Troy’s, or school boards are going to be asked to essentially decide with their check books how much a priority school safety really is.

I have no doubt we’re going to find out it’s quite important.

And to that end, I don’t see a problem with more money for it coming directly from the general fund. The last couple years, there have been general fund transfers from $200K-$750K to balance the sheriff’s budget, generally resulting in a moderate-public meltdown.

I’m not sure why we consider it taboo for the county to provide tax dollars … to subsidize a county department. That tiny little general fund transfer is all the sheriff’s department has typically received in terms of county funds.

Regardless, I’m anticipating if the county were to simply cover all the costs of the SRO program, there probably wouldn’t be near as much complaining from the general public as those end-of-year transfers.

Most agree child safety is important and should be a top priority.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Lincoln County Journal, Troy Free Press and Elsberry Democrat. To this day, he finds the tick, tick, tick of a clock soothing and relaxing. He can be reached at gorear@cherryroad.com.