Beginning the Prayer Walk with a meal at Natty Greene’s.
Groups gather along Elm Street and their favorite places to eat – – Crafted! The Art of the Taco.
Studying downtown Greensboro
Green Bean Coffee House (341 South Elm Street)
Praying on Elm Street
KoShary – a new Egyptian restaurant
by Laura Lomax, Deacon Chair
Ok, here is my take on our third prayer walk in prose, for those who don’t like poetry (see poem below). We met at 6 pm at Natty Greens and had a great dinner, listened to the trains pass, and were grateful for our third consecutive week of perfect prayer walking weather! We were fortunate to have Dr. Pressley join us this time, and also Charles Hartis, who blessed us with some artistic photo-documentation of the sights on our walk. Fred and Marie Binder were faithful to come back and walk and pray as well.
We came upon some of Kim Priddy’s old First Presbyterian buddies outside Natty’s, who miss her terribly (sorry, you can’t have her back!) and this time made our way north on Elm. Amazing what new things you see just walking the opposite way first—we noticed the artistic touches in the alleyways, lots of young people downtown, and we paused and prayed for the variety of people we saw there.
One of the nice surprises on our walk was that we got to see the birth of a new Egyptian restaurant called KoShary, near the Kress building. The signature dish was available for sampling on the sidewalk, and the owner motioned us in for a look at the interior, which was beautiful. She was clearly proud of her new restaurant and I always pray that great new businesses like hers will find Greensboro welcoming and supportive. We also stopped and bought ice cream at the new creamery downtown, owned by a nice couple named Chris and Laura. Next time we’ll need to enlarge our walking area if we’re going to keep eating like this!
At the beginning of our walk, we prayed that God would show us what he had for us to see. He showed us lots of colors tonight- fledgling businesses, homelessness, youthful enthusiasm, old stately buildings that have stood the test of time. Come join us next Tuesday for our prayer walk at 7 pm—and keep praying God will show us His vision of our possible presence downtown.
Our walk down Elm
Is a mosaic of color-
bold red youth and vigor,
alleys with swirling gates,
nightclubs that awaken long
after we’ve left this street.
Fluttering green trees,
gray stately buildings,
acanthus leaf adorned,
the cool blue of a gallery
that beckons us for a look.
An Egyptian woman tries her hand
at making it here- we sample her yellow
food on the sidewalk-
and wonder at her rose-colored hope
and how much of her life she
has risked here on this
brave new start.
Another woman,
in brown leg warmers in hot June,
pushes an overstuffed cart
and avoids our gaze
but yells at the young
white girl holding hands
with a black man.
And we pray for all of the colors
we see, and those we don’t see.