The Sauntering Pilgrim

February 12, 2023

The choice

It has been called “the most misread poem in America” (David Orr, The Atlantic, 19 May 2018). The poem is Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” and Frost seems to have shared that opinion. He warned his readers, “You have to be careful of that one; it’s a tricky poem – very tricky.” The way Continue reading

Ruminations

a living hell, blessings, choose life, eternal life, eternity, grace, gratitude, heaven, obedience, reconciliation, relationship with God, Robert Frost, the gift of life, the Great Banquet, the present moment, The Road Not Taken, Thomas Merton
February 9, 2023

That final trip home

My resolve not to return to Missouri for a visit started to waver months ago as I considered a retrospective (final?) tour of the turf where my family roots are sunk deep. I recalled how grounded I felt in 2019 when I last wandered the hills and homesteads my paternal family line has called home Continue reading

Ruminations

children and firearms, coping with change, disillusionment, family roots, freedom, going home, homecoming
February 6, 2023

You are the light of the world

Last week I said that, although there is so much darkness in the world around us, it’s not a world of complete darkness; a light shines, which the darkness will not overcome. That light is the light of love, I said, and we are its torches. Today in Matthew’s gospel we hear Jesus say the Continue reading

Ruminations

Are you saved?, authenticity, chosen, discipleship, faith, holy, holy people, light, maturing in faith, new covenant, wholeness
October 23, 2022

Through the lens of love

According to Thomas Moore, teacher, psychotherapist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Care of the Soul, slight shifts in imagination have more impact on living than major efforts at change. Deep changes in life follow shifts in imagination. Jesus said the fulfillment of your deepest dreams and God’s greatest promises – the kingdom Continue reading

Ruminations

Abraham, born from above, Care of the Soul, defense of the gospel, fate, gospel, imagination, importuning widow, Joseph Campbell, kingdom of God, lens of love, like a child, love of your fate, masks of God, Nietzsche, sharing the gospel, strength from God, Thomas Moore, unjust judge
October 15, 2022

Praying with bloody knuckles

If you feel tired and worn out, discouraged, and disengaged from what’s going on around you, if your energy and your hope for the future are fading and your insecurity is rising, you may take comfort in knowing you’re not alone. Judy Levitz, founding director of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center in New York City, Continue reading

Ruminations

faith, faithfulness, living in the meantime, Love Dogs, pray always, prayer, praying, realm of God, reconciliation, reign of God, Rule of Benedict, Rumi, seeking God, short prayer, St. Benedict, steadfast love
October 9, 2022

The key to abundant life

“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice” (Luke 17:15). If you’re confused by the gospel of Jesus, you might have good reason to be. Jesus said he came that we might have more and better life than we ever dreamed of having (John Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, awake, breaking rules, come alive, dreams fulfilled, grateful living, healing, kingdom of God, making a difference, Meister Eckhart, prayer, reconciliation, seeing, surprise, thank you, the narrow gate
October 2, 2022

Increasing Our Faith

I don’t know why the “apostles said to [Jesus], ‘Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). It may have been because their faith was being increasingly tested. Jesus had told them clearly about the high cost of following his way (Luke 9:21-27). Now they’re on the way to Jerusalem, where his death awaits him (9:51), and he Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, assurasnce, catechism, Christian love, conviction, cost of discipleship, creeds, faith, guarding the good treasure, I believe, keep it simple, Martin Luther, Occam's Razor, power of love, testing faith
September 25, 2022

A faithful use of money

If it’s not a church-goer’s nightmare, it’s probably at least a very bad dream – a gospel passage and a sermon about money, about our relationship with it, and about how we use it – but it leads to helpful guidance for how to faithfully use the money entrusted to our care. I’m referring not Continue reading

Ruminations

Christian use of money, financial stewardship, God and wealth, John Wesley, Lazarus, Lazarus and dives, lovers of money, money, stewardship, wealth
September 18, 2022

Choose

Today is Rally Day in our congregation, as it is in many others. Family vacations and holidays are mostly over. The kids are back in school; high school students are back in class; college students have begun a new semester. And in the church, we’re gearing up for a new season of ministry. Before we Continue reading

Ruminations

Carl Sandburg, choice, choosing, critical moments, daily choices, discontent, harmony with God, James Russell Lowell, little cat feet, loyalty, new beginning, Promised Land, quality of life, Rally Day, restlessness, Saint Augustine, shaping life, to serve God, two masters, why
September 11, 2022

Finding the missing piece

There used to be a feature in the Sunday Buffalo News called The Magic Eye. At first glance, it appeared to be the kind of image you’d see on your computer screen when the mother board was failing, a mass of colorful, squiggly, incoherent lines. But if you changed your perspective and focused your eyes Continue reading

Ruminations

abundand life, authentic Christianity, community, division, dualism, God's perspective, inclusiveness, kingdom of God, parable of the lost sheep, parables, reconciliation, reign of God, the aim of ministry, the gospel, the hundred sheep

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.