The Real Size of Small Talk

One negative impact of the Information Age in that social talking is being devalued. Actually, "small" talk is anything but trivial; it is the stuff on which intimacy is built. Part of God's word to us is small talk, the invitation to intimacy with him. And prayer is our vital small talk with him.

It can never be said that Adele Gaboury's neighbors were less than responsible. When her lawn grew hip-high, they had a local boy mow it down. When her pipes froze and burst, they had the water turned off. When the mail spilled out the front door, they called the police.

The only thing they didn't do was check to see if she was alive. She wasn't.

On Monday, police climbed her crumbling brick stoop, broke in the side door of her little blue house and found what they believe to be the 73-year-old woman's skeletal remains sunk in a five-foot-high pile of trash where they had apparently lain for as long as four years.

"It's not a very friendly neighborhood," said Eileen Dugan, 70, once a close friend of Gaboury's, whose house sits less than 20 feet from the dead woman's home. "I'm as much to blame as anyone. She was alone and needed someone to talk to, but I was working two jobs and was sick of her coming over at all hours. Eventually I stopped answering the door" (Boston Globe).

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