Yesterday morning, Cindy, the lady who delivers my grocery order, saw me standing at the door of my house and greeted me eye-to-eye with a “Hi! Howya doin?” I responded, “I’m fine and how are you getting along?”? “Livin’ the dream!” she said off-handedly as she brought my stuff to the kitchen.
Cindy is a sturdy fifty-something with tired blond hair and an easy smile that warms me every time I see her and I smile back and thank her as she hurries away to her next delivery.
Cindy was the only person with whom I talked that day. But, I got a blessing out of the deal. I felt someone really saw me, took note of me.
Small talk is essential to getting along in life and part of the daily living to which Jesus has called us. Small talk is one of the ways we pause our purposes and notice someone else, like the simple encounter with Cindy yesterday.
Today, I took a walk and met an old gent with a cane who came shuffling along going the other direction on the sidewalk. He was a tall man wearing a well-used cap.
“Good morning !” I said when I was a few feet away. He lifted his head and looked at me as he passed by. His face broke into a grin.”Mornin, nice day!” He said. His voice was surprisingly hefty.
“Yes, it sure is!” I reply.
“Have a
good one!” he says as he moves by me. Four beats to the measure — just enough to help me sail along with the rest of the day.
These brief encounters and small talk are the day’s salve to the cuts and slings of outrageous fortune. They are fresh air to life’s staleness. Life becomes personal again. It is in those small moments that I am sure that I am not far from the kingdom of God.