Ruminations

August 17, 2025

On listening to the earth

It may be one of the most recognizable lines in American literature. At least it is for me. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to Continue reading

Ruminations

God's first scripture, god-shaped hole, Man’s Search for Meaning, Mary Oliver, Max Lucado, meaning in life, Merton, Pascal, Thomas Aquinas, Thoreau, Viktor Frankl
August 10, 2025

On being tired of waiting

I am so tired of waiting.Aren’t you,for the world to become goodand beautiful and kind?Let us take a knifeand cut the world in two—and see what worms are eatingat the rind.—Langston Hughes I’ve been tired of waiting – haven’t you? – for the world to become good and beautiful and kind, tired of waiting for Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, affordable healthcare, destination addiction, God’s will, Godot, heaven, homelessness, hospitality, hunger, injustice, Isaiah, Jesus, Julius Caesar, kingdom of God, Langston Hughes, livable wages, oppression, reign of God, rich and poor, social justice, Vladimir and Estragon, waiting, Waiting for Godot, what are you living for?
July 9, 2025

Avaunt!

Stepping back for a few days from my normal routine with its occupations and preoccupations left me unguarded and vulnerable. Plenty of distractions lay waiting to fill the void, including Ozzie (i.e., Ozymandias, from Shelley’s poem of the same name, [aka Trump]), and in they rushed. Abetted by a growing number of history lessons illuminating Continue reading

Ruminations

Lewis Mumford, Ozymandias, Retreat, sabbath time, Trump, vacation
June 22, 2025

On why we are here at Holy Trinity

What would you say if you were asked why you are here at Holy Trinity this morning? For the last six months, several groups of congregation leaders and members have been asking why any of us are here. We’ve been developing a Why Statement to say as realistically and clearly as possible why we are Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, christianity, community, faith, family, God, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, home, Jesus, living abundantly, love, nurturing relationships, peace, quality of life, relationships, sanctuary, togetherness, welcoming, Why Statement
June 8, 2025

On observing a true Pentecost

For many, the story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-42) has acquired a patina of mystery and magic that obscures what really happened that day. The story begins with strange auditory and visual phenomena – a sound like a violent wind and something like tongues of fire resting on each of the disciples. Now, most people stop Continue reading

Ruminations

fulfillment of prophecy, God’s chosen people, Holy Spirit, Imagine, Jeremiah, Joel, John Lennon, Pentecost, psalmist, reconciliation, speaking in tongues, St. Luke, St. Peter
June 1, 2025

On the blessing of interruptions

If you want to make the most of your life and fulfill your highest purpose, business experts and life coaches tell us, you need to stay focused on your dream or goal and resist distractions and interruptions as much as possible. By letting go of distractions and avoiding interruptions, you’ll increase your prospects of arriving Continue reading

Ruminations

distractions, interruptions, letting go, making the most of your life, Paul and Silas, prayer, priorities in life, purpose, sabbath, slave girl, Solitude, success, systems we live in, Wendell Berry
May 25, 2025

If you will

Sometimes the most effective healing Jesus offered was no healing at all. Take the story of the man at the pool of Beth-zatha, for example (John 5:2-9). For thirty-eight years he had been there, most of his life, waiting to be healed of whatever ailed him. And for thirty-eight years he had seen others healed Continue reading

Ruminations

Abba Joseph, Abba Lot, authority, be made well, become all fire, bible, change, dependency, desert fathers, discovery, faith, God, healing, health and wholeness, Jesus, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, letting go, new life, paralytic, risking change, risking growth, the pool of Beth-zatha, the unknown, unanswered prayer, unknown world
May 18, 2025

The mark of the Christian

Love is more than a commandment of Jesus (see John 13:31-35). Love is an invitation and a promise. It’s the condition in which we experience the abundant life into which Jesus invites us (John 10:10). It’s the land flowing with milk and honey into which God promises to deliver us (Exod. 3:7f). It’s the house Continue reading

Ruminations

bible, Christian love, christianity, commandment to love, debt of love, God, Jesus, love, promise of God
May 11, 2025

For the gospel to be heard

The church and its message exist today in a world flooded with noise and distractions that vie for attention. The world is inundated with competing and contradictory solutions to the problems we face. In the words of poet William Alexander Percy, “Too much is said too loudly; I am dazed. / The silken sound of Continue reading

Ruminations

calling, Christian, church’s credibiity, eternity, future of the church, God’s guidance, gospel, grace, greatest commandment, judgment, living sacrifice, love, love of God, love of neighbor, message of life, reconciliation, voices shouting, way of life, wholeness, William Alexander Percy, wisdom
April 27, 2025

Letter to Thomas, 27 April 2025

For several years, for the Sunday after Easter Day, I’ve written a letter to the disciple Thomas. Some of them I’ve made public. This is one of them. Dear Thomas: The theme song from Cheers has been coming to mind a lot recently. It begins, “Making your way in the world today / Takes everything Continue reading

Ruminations

Cheers theme song, courage, doubting Thomas, Easter, faith, grief, Nadia Bolz-Weber, new life, resurrection, risen Christ, spiritual rebirth, spiritual software update

About Me

Rich Neal is, in no particular order, a wordsmith and graphic designer; lover of typography, books, and publishing; photographer; contemplative; saunterer; and a retired and still-active pastor. He claims neither special wisdom nor particularly deep insight into life, only occasional glimpses of what lies behind the veil along the way. He shares them here in the hope of connecting the pieces of life’s puzzle that come to him in the journey and would consider it a gift if sharing them also connected him with others who travel an unmarked path toward the same unknown end.