kingdom of God

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?
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
October 13, 2024

Swimming in life

It may be the question behind every other meaningful question we ask. One nameless man – a John Doe who could have been any one of us – put it this way when he ran up to Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). How do I Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, Anthony de Mello, attitude of gratitude, banquet of heaven, before it’s too late, blessings and burdens, blessings of life, eternal life, faith, give thanks in all circumstances, God, Good Teacher, Gospel of Thomas, hard-knock life, heaven, Jesus, kingdom of God, now or never, Orphan Annie, perfect life, the future, the gospel, the Great Banquet, the ocean, two ocean fish
May 12, 2024

The blind men and the church

Change! It’s hard to live with because it’s often painful, and when change is big and sudden, it can be very painful. And you can’t live without it because change is part of life, and to grow is to change. You can’t grow into the fullness of life tomorrow if you’re stuck living in the Continue reading

Ruminations

change, differences, division, factions, faith, Judas, kingdom of God, Listening, Matthias, Nicodemus, relationships, six blind men, Spirit, transformative change
October 22, 2023

On living with integrity

According to some very old and popular wisdom, there are three things you should never talk about at the dinner table or elsewhere in polite company: politics, religion, and money. And two of them, politics and money, are never to be discussed from the pulpit. So today we have a story about all three: some Continue reading

Ruminations

all things hold together, betrayal of faith, brokenness, choices, compromise, differences, divisions, dualism, eternal habitation, financial stewardship, God and government, heaven, Herodians, hot-button issues, Incarnation, integrity, John Donne, kingdom of God, money, No Man Is an Island, Pharisees, political forces, politics, reconciliation, religion, social forces, taxes to the emperor, Titanic, unity
August 13, 2023

Addressing an epidemic of loneliness

Last week, I asked you to reflect deeply about what you’re truly hungry for in life, not your trendy or transient cravings but the deep hunger that binds you to God, the human hunger we all share and that makes us one with the whole human family. What are you really and deeply hungry for Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, banquet of heaven, community, digital environment, epidemic of loneliness, family, gathered, gospel of reconciliation, hunger, hungry for God, isolation, kingdom of God, Listening, loneliness, online meetings, public policy, social disconnection, social infrastructure, social media, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, surgeon general’s advisory
July 30, 2023

Feasting on heaven’s banquet

One of my favorite pieces of advice is from the fourth-century Hindu philosopher, playwright, and poet Kalidasa. “Look to this day,” he wrote, “for it is Life – the very Life of Life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence: the bliss of growth, the glory of action, the Continue reading

Ruminations

Alistair Begg, faith, fake it till you make it, good news, gospel, harmony, heaven, Hebrews, Jesus, Kalidasa, keep the faith, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, look to this day, love of God, O for a faith that will not shrink, relationship with God, salvation, St. Paul, The Second Coming, William Bathurst, William Butler Yeats
June 25, 2023

This one short life

When writer Annie Dillard was a young child, she would hide a precious penny of her own for someone else to find. She’d cradle it in the roots of a tree or a crack in the sidewalk, then with a piece of chalk she’d draw huge arrows leading up to the penny from both directions Continue reading

Ruminations

Abraham Joshua Heschel, Annie Dillard, doors of perception, gaining life, Gospel of Thomas, hidden in plain sight, in a mirror dimly, Joseph Campbell, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, life, losing life, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, reign of God, Richard Rohr, search for truth, shortness of life, through a glass darkly, two halves of life, William Blake, wisdom of heart
April 30, 2023

The abundant life

Several weeks ago I asked you three questions: what is your greatest need, what is your greatest hope, and what is your most urgent question? Last weekend the Church Council sifted through those responses and found they contained several common themes, themes that will help inspire and guide our ministries at Holy Trinity. Soon you’ll Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, attention, authenticity, devotion, Ecclesiastes, finding God, good shepherd, greatest hope, greatest need, greatness, human connection, intimacy, kingdom of God, land flowing with milk and honey, Mary Oliver, meaning, most urgent question, searching for God, security, the Teacher, wisdom
March 5, 2023

Questions worth living

One of the questions I asked three weeks ago was, “What is your most urgent question?” Your responses were more than interesting. They were thoughtful and engaging, curious in a way that might launch a serious and fruitful exploration of faith. And they expressed the deep yearning for God I believe St. Augustine had in Continue reading

Ruminations

authority of Jesus, banquet of heaven, born again, born from above, born of water and the Spirit, good news, gospel, kingdom of God, living the questions, Love Dogs, Nicodemus, Nietzsche, one having authority, our hearts are restless, questions of faith, Rainer Maria Rilke, restlessness, Rumi, St. Augustine, urgent questions, yearning for God

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.