When elderly Adele Gaboury turned up missing four years ago, concerned neighbours in Worcester, Massachusetts, informed the police. A brother told police she had gone into a nursing home. Satisfied with that information, Gaboury’s neighbours began watching her property.
Michael Crowley noticed her mail piling high. He notified the postal agency and the deliveries were stopped. Gaboury’s next-door neighbour, Eileen Dugan, started paying her grandson $10 twice a month to mow Gaboury’s lawn. Later Dugan’s son noticed Gaboury’s pipes had frozen, spilling water out the door. The utility company was called to shut off the water. What no one guessed was that while they’d been trying to help, Gaboury had been inside her home.
When police finally investigated the house as a health hazard, they were shocked to find her body. The Washington Post (10/27/93) reported that police believe Gaboury died of natural causes four years ago.
The respectable, external appearance of Gaboury’s house had hidden the reality of what was on the inside.
Something similar can happen to people: We may appear outwardly proper and alive while inward dead. All sorts of religious activity may be happening outside, while the real problem is missed - agony, doubt, disbelief... on the inside.
... Vialo Weis, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3.