Freezing February

This walk is a parallel of Wednesday's walk.  Again, I am sharing a vehicle with someone,  but this time I needed to drop the vehicle off and walk home.  I debated the wisdom of this course as it was really cold today.  Though the sun was shining, there was a strong breeze.  This walk took my down State Street, which is a street I often drive.  It is very interesting to walk past The Historic Park Inn Hotel and Trinity House of Hope on the same street.  One is a beautifully restored architectural wonder and the other is emergency and transitional housing for homeless and at risk women.

I never really know what to do with such juxtapositions, though I often notice them.  It is as though the world has an ironic sense of humor.  On one block, there is a fancy, luxurious home away from home for travelers and architecture geeks.  On the next there is a solid, sturdy temporary home for people who have no other place to go.  One has a restaurant and a chef.  The other has a community kitchen.  Both have apartments and grounds that are kept up by strangers.  Both are examples of light, life, vitality and hope in Mason City.  They are in many ways the same, yet the distance between them is much farther than the city blocks.

As I continued to walk, I realized I had not dressed quite well enough for the cold.  The wind cut right through my gloves, my coat, my pants and my shoes.  My face started to burn and the tips of my fingers began to hurt.  I tried wadding my fingers into fists inside my gloves, but I still had a dog leash to handle and some of the sidewalks were treacherously icy, so I needed my hands and arms for balance.

I won't lie: this was not the most pleasant prayer walk I have experienced since starting this project.  However, the differences between what some of us have and what some of us have not made for an interesting mindfulness.  I knew I was going to be home soon.  I have a home to go to.  I knew I was going to be warm soon.  I can afford to heat my home.  I knew I wasn't going to get frostbite.  I was wearing gloves, hat and a coat.  I knew I was soon going to be eating a meal with my spouse.  I have food and a spouse I trust and respect.

At a recent worship conference I met a man from Uganda.  He told me if I knew what I had living here in the U.S. I would thank God every day for my life.  I do Ivan.  I do thank God everyday for my life.  For a home, for food, for clothing, for equal recognition as a female person, for a stable government and a town that respects both the luxury of a Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel and the community of struggling, homeless and displaced persons.

I spent this prayer walk praying for people who have no homes, no clothing, no food, no opportunities and no relationships they can rely on.  I spent this walk praying for those who hadn't chosen to be out in this freezing February.


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