The Sauntering Pilgrim

Notes, Ruminations, and Seeds of Contemplation

relationships

August 23, 2026

The best part of us

What is the best part of you—the part that feels most like who you really are? What is the truest, strongest, most alive part of you? When life falls apart, what is the part of you that keeps going—the part you and others can count on? Eugene Peterson paraphrased one of today’s readings this way:… Continue reading

Ruminations

Antaeus, Babylon, Babylonian exile, community, David Steindl-Rast, faith, God, Isaiah, Israel’s exile, Jesus, love, reconciliation, relationships, Saint Paul, Why Statement
August 2, 2026

Guests at the banquet

If you’re feeling spiritually dry today—hungry for meaning, longing for the “abundant” life Jesus promised (John 10:10)—then listen to God’s invitation: “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1). The invitation matters, because it tells us that abundant life is not transactional. Many of… Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, Eucharist, feeding the five thousand, feeding the hungry, fellowship, gospel, healing, Holy Communion, justice, kingdom of God, reconciliation, relationships
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
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
January 22, 2022

Our work of reconciliation

Most of the parents of children in our Child Care Center are tired of the restrictions and quarantines of the pandemic, some of them desperately so. Most of us are, too. We grieve what we’ve lost and yearn just as desperately for a return to normal. We want to gather for worship the way we… Continue reading

Ruminations

body of Christ, Dorothy Day, Ezra, finding faith, God's word, human relationships, laying a foundation, loving God, loving our neighbors, ministers of reconciliation, Nehemiah, pandemic, political divisions, quarantine, racial divisions, rebuilding, reconciliation, relationships, reshaping faith, return to normal, seeds of grace, social divisions, St. Augustine, tolerance, understanding, unity

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.

relationships

The best part of us

Guests at the banquet

On why we are here at Holy Trinity

The blind men and the church

Our work of reconciliation