Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”

At a local coffee shop in San Francisco’s North Beach at 8 a.m. one sees the 'regulars'. They greet each other with well-worn words:

Good morning./  How are you?/  What ya’ doing?/  Well, the rain has stopped and the sun is out./  Hi, Vince.

Where yuh been?/  We missed you yesterday.

Such "small talk" seems nearly universal. Of course it differs from culture to culture, gender to gender, even neighborhood to neighborhood, etc. Among some and in different venues this may all be more demonstrative, accompanied by a Whoop and a big hug. On a college campus I'm familiar with, the most frequent bit of such small talk is a slurred ‘howzigoin’? No detailed answer expected.

Small talk in itself is not full of content or significant material about North Korea or even local soccer. It's simply friendly. The words are a verbal equivalent of or an accompaniment of a touch, a pat on the back, a handshake, an arm around the shoulder. They are reassuring, friendly, without being heavily weighted. With them we reassure people in our little part of the world that despite the horrors of our world, there remain some solid and comforting things like friends, acquaintances, good neighbors and even love.

No matter what preoccupations -- money, business, worries, the stock market, that teenager -- small talk points to our basic, decent and non-threatening solidarity with others. There are, of course, those who simply plunge into: "About that Olson contract." Or, "I think George was completely off track." A friend tells of jumping right away into serious matters and being brought down to earth after a few minutes of heavy stuff by his friend saying, "Good morning".

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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