Perhaps our legislature should spend some time addressing these kinds of issues instead of proposing names for the potential NBA franchise or arguing over whether or not college students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus.

Just a thought.

Saturday’s paper (do you call it a paper if it is always read online?) featured Fresh StART – a new ministry of Catholic Charities and the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City that offers creative outlets for the homeless. Fresh StART is an open art studio where homeless individuals can come and work with volunteer artists to create pieces using different media.

You can read the full article here.

On Sunday, there was a great article about The Refuge. The Refuge is the dream of Tim Ulrich who is partnering with a number of area churches to convert an old building downtown from a crack house to a place for ministry to homeless and needy individuals and families. It is still a work in progress, but I know a number of people who are invested in the redemption of that building and the whole project is a beautiful picture of what can happen when the Church gets a vision for what God can and wants to do for “the least of these”.

You can read the full article here.

Among the provisions of HB 2833: (from state Senate press release)

• Creation of an Oklahoma Food Security Committee
• Tax relief for those most at risk for hunger
• Tax rebates for charities that address hunger issues in the state
• Sales tax exemptions for small farmers that sell at venues like farmer’s markets

All of this with the goal of reducing food insecurity in Oklahoma to at or below that of the national average by 2013. We will be keeping an eye on this bill as it makes its way through the process.

You can read the full Task Force report here.

Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.

We aren’t there yet, but maybe in reflection today we can pray for and think of ways to get another step closer.

Our state ranks in the bottom 20% in the following categories:

• Deaths per 100,000 Children Aged 1-14 (40th)
• Deaths per 100,000 Teens Aged 15-19 (40th)
• Births to Teen Mothers (15-19) per 1,000 Teen Girls (44th)
• Children Living in Poverty (44th)
• Child Abuse Fatalities per 100,000 Children (48th) – this actually places OK last among the states due to lack of data for Michigan and North Carolina
• Total Child Vulnerability Index (47th)

Of the statistics compiled, the only category in which Oklahoma ranked in the top 50% was in Juvenile Incarceration Rate (21st) – the one category where being low is actually better.

We have to do better. In his commentary today on newsok.com (watch here), Ed Kelley claims that education is the key to solving all of these problems. In the long term that is certainly one answer, but what about kids in Oklahoma today? These kids need to be protected and their parents need access to training and education for real jobs that will help them get their families out of poverty and when violence toward kids takes place, we have to intervene in meaningful ways. That doesn’t always mean taking kids away from parents, but it does mean that the state has to find creative ways to help families and protect children. I don’t have the answers, but it is pretty clear that the questions need to be asked.

The Oklahoma House General Government and Transportation Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would establish English (such as it is spoken here) as the official language of Oklahoma. Tribal leaders like Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith attended the meeting in hopes of having an opportunity to speak against the measure, but they were denied that courtesy by committee chairman Rep. Guy Liebmann (R-Oklahoma City). Liebmann later threatened to have Smith forcibly removed if he spoke during the time given to him by Rep. Jerry McPeak (D-Warner).

I know that proponents of this bill claim that it is about saving money, but since the bill was introduced by the man who gave us 1804, (Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore) there is little doubt that this is another effort to “rid” Oklahoma of immigrants – legal or otherwise – by denying them access to driver’s licenses and state services. How ironic that in a time when the sports airwaves are buzzing with ideas for NBA nicknames that honor our Native American heritage, our legislators are doing all they can to dishonor this same heritage or any other. Welcome to Oklahoma, Mickael Gelabale!

My favorite part? The Oklahoman reports that the bill “would not prevent the state from promoting itself in languages other than English for purposes of commerce and tourism”. Y’all come – just don’t say anything.