Yes, I’m in God’s country. You can certainly feel it. As I crossed the border from northern Texas into Oklahoma, the land is open. You can almost picture the “sooners” running for the great land chase in the late nineteenth century. There’s still so much open land, I feel like I could have run out there myself and claimed some. But, not quite.
So, I made it to Oklahoma. And I can really feel like I’m out here in dead center “middle America”. My first visit was to Oklahoma Christian University, on the outskirts of Oklahoma City in Edmond, OK. I visited with an ISI Honors Fellow, Stephen Swanson, who is only a sophomore and is starting an ISI Group at this small Christian university. It’s a very religious school, with a chapel requirement every day at 11am, which is basically an “assembly” where they sing some hymns, here some announcements, and hear a few thoughts from a speaker.
I also met with a faculty member on campus who does similar things to what I do, but on a more local level for his school. He has also been involved with ISI as a member and told me he and Stephen would certainly help bring ISI lectures to campus in the future. We were also joined by another sophomore student who signed up for ISI and is interested in getting more involved with Stephen’s new group.
After lunch, I ventured back into Oklahoma City…