THURSDAY, April 7

Psalm 69:1-23. I have grown weary with my crying.

The state-run substance abuse treatment center where I worked was closed down. The building that once housed and helped marginalized human beings is now full of administrative personnel who are more con-cerned with losing their jobs than saving lives.

Every week, I run into people who have been through our treatment center. For most, their stop at our place was all they needed to get their lives back on track. They ask, “Why did they shut it down?” I can only shake my head and shrug my shoulders. Rumors abound about why our center was put on the chopping block. It couldn’t have been about the quality of treatment. I’ve heard too many times that it was exactly what people needed.

For lack of a better way to understand it, I just tell myself that bureaucracy reared its ugly head and people removed from the reality of what we do made the decision. A quote from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest comes to mind: “He was in his chair in the corner, resting a second before he came out for the next round—in a long line of next rounds. The thing he was fighting, you couldn’t whip it for good.”

If nothing else, this reminds me to be patient and to persevere. Sometimes we are like the psalmist, needing to simply lament the way that things are.

PRAY for the Anglican Health Network (AHN)

Ps 69:1-23(24-30)31-38 * 73; Jer 22:13-23; Rom 8:12-27; John 6:41-51

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Apr 07, 2011 at 6:20 am

Written by ivan williams,

I have followed and admired this writer since his first writing for FM and was so anxious to read more of his spiritual insights. Bo, you have touched so many lives and helped so many of us, who like you, journey through life, stumbling on the way, trying to make sense of this fast moving world. A world that often seems to ignore the amazing accomplishments of small caring programs and under the guise of "balancing the budget", we save $1000 today, that will cost us $20,000 tomorrow to incarcerate or medically treat and house those who are the victims. This philosophy of "looking at the short term costs rather than the long term benefits" runs rampant in our culture, in government, business, and even in some of our religious organizations. Keep up the faith and know the "Potter" is not through with us yet.

Hello Ivan

Apr 07, 2011 at 7:40 am

Written by Bo Cox,

Thank you, sir. Good to hear from you. Debb and I wonder about you often. Wonderfully stated, by the way. Of course, that simply means I agree with you! Hope all is well. Take care. Peace, Bo

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Apr 07, 2011 at 7:49 am

Written by Paulletta Garoutte-Aldridge,

Like the Psalmist I too have "grown weary with crying" and wonder sometimes why I should keep trying, keep praying, keep working on what seems impossible to deal with and then I remember that a big part of faith is tenacity... God hasn't given up on me, the least I can do is not give up and hold onto my faith.

A Letter to Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin

Apr 07, 2011 at 8:18 am

Written by Bo Cox,

Check out the link below if you'd like to read a letter I sent last week to the Governor about a recent tragedy directly related to the closing of the treatment center mentioned in today's meditation. Thank you for caring about folks who can't quite care for themselves yet. Peace, Bo

Here's the letter itself

Apr 07, 2011 at 8:24 am

Written by Bo Cox,

March 31, 2011
Governor Fallin,
Thank you for serving. I am sure you're familiar with the man who recently shot and killed his ex-wife, a lawyer in Edmond, and then himself. You probably even know that this man suffered from a long and troubled bout with substance abuse and other related mental health issues.
However, are you aware that, literally weeks before, his family contacted me, trying to help him get placement in a treatment center that would let him in without insurance?

letter, cont'd

Apr 07, 2011 at 8:25 am

Written by Bo Cox,

His family thought maybe I could help him get in the Norman Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, where I used to work before it was shut down a year ago. Now Commissioner White will tell you it wasn't shut down but, rather, merged with another facility; this is merely a sleight of hand phrase that ODMHSAS lawyers used to wiggle through a legislative mandate that NADTC be maintained. Had the true intent of that mandate been followed, we very well may not be having this conversation.
These people were hopeful he could get in NADTC as they'd had another family member receive treatment there several years earlier and make tremendous changes in his life.

letter cont'd

Apr 07, 2011 at 8:27 am

Written by Bo Cox,

We looked and every place we called had a lengthy waiting list unless you had insurance. At NADTC, one of our practices was getting people in, even if we had to put an extra bed in a room. Likewise, check our customer service surveys or recent 3 year accreditation by CARF, the highest they grant. Compare the number of people served, coupled with a central location, to the smaller facilities located in remote areas that remained open; places where a person without insurance can't get in anyway, at least not in a timely manner.
He couldn't find a place, ultimately, and this is the worse-case scenario of our shutting down a centrally-located, very capable treatment facility which served more people annually than any other state operated treatment facility.

letter ending

Apr 07, 2011 at 8:28 am

Written by Bo Cox,

Coupled with the number of people who couldn't access substance abuse treatment services who began sentences in the criminal justice system in the last year at triple the cost to taxpayers, and this fatal decision becomes fiscally irresponsible as well.
I pray you take a long look at re-opening the Norman Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center or another centrally located facility with the same philosophy of helping those who, literally, have no other options left.
Sincerely,
Bo Cox
Norman, OK

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Apr 07, 2011 at 9:06 am

Written by Steve Doutt,

Ivan, I too get frustrated with the apparent lack of appreciation of the economic consequences of budget cuts. I pray that God will open all of our eyes to the fact that money is just a tool to get things done. Money isn't static, it circulates. The more you circulate it the more value it has. One of the functions of Government is to circulate money .... it is also one of the functions of Christians.

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Apr 07, 2011 at 10:03 am

Written by Mary C.,

How timely today's meditation is, along with the beginning of the reading from Jeremiah! Bo, when you wrote that meditation, could you have known tha, almost at this moment, our government would be in danger of shutting down because a large number of members of Congress are proposing a budget that would cut into social and health programs to offset tax breaks for the richest among us?

"Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten, Nor the hope of the poor be taken away."

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