Witness Walk-North Federal

Today I was joined by two others.  We met at the corner of North Federal and 13 St. NE.  I started by reading Isaiah 58: 6-12,

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? ⁸Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of theLord shall be your rear guard. ⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, ¹⁰if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. ¹¹The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.¹²Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

I felt like this passage would be good for looking at the empty buildings, the burnt skeletons of apartments, the empty parking lots and boarded windows of North Federal.  We walked and prayed.  I learned about some of the old businesses-in particular a meat-packing plant and the closed cement factory that used to support vital community here at this end of town.  We stopped and prayed for a family that my walking partners knew to be in need of prayer.   Turning off of North Federal, we walked along N. Delaware.  There are a lot of smaller, block-like houses back here.  Some yards had beautiful gardens, and fanciful flowery decorations, while others were boarded up and had collections of old furniture and electronics strewn along the curbs.  We shared a "Good Morning" with a woman out enjoying the gorgeous sun.

There is a large, white Southwestern mission-style building that used to be a Methodist Church on N. Delaware.  It is apparently now a hangout or apartment building.  I wonder, where did all those Methodists go?  Methodists, like Salvationists, were born in the hard, difficult places of the world.  We talked about how this part of town has such a bad reputation, even the criminals won't live or work here, yet how, when you walk, it becomes clear that there are just people here, living their lives and doing their thing.




I took this picture, because, as one of my walking partners pointed out, the empty booze bottles, the peeling paint, the dead grass and the overall disarray of the buildings along here contribute to an environment that people shun, fear, and gossip about.  


We ended our walk with a prayer together, giving thanks for the time together and praying God's blessing on this part of Mason City.  Next week, I hope to be joined by more walkers in this same area, West of North Federal.

View North Federal in a larger map