The Sauntering Pilgrim

Notes, Ruminations, and Seeds of Contemplation

Jacob

April 8, 2026

Wrestling toward a new life

Every year on the Sunday following Easter we read again about the experience of the disciple we call “Doubting Thomas” and his first and life-transforming encounter with the risen Christ (John 20:19-29). And almost every year since I finished seminary I’ve written a letter to Thomas to reconnect with him and his experience (which resonates… Continue reading

Ruminations

doubt, doubting Thomas, faith, Jacob
March 17, 2024

Theophanies

Last Tuesday, Craig Muir had just left his house for a morning walk when he spotted in the distance, in the middle of nowhere, a silver monolith protruding from the ground. There was no clue how it got there or what it was doing in that spot. “To look at it,” Muir said, “you could… Continue reading

Ruminations

2001: A Space Odyssey, Abram, Annunciation, Come and find the quiet center, Damascus Road, distractions, Eli, Elijah, Gabriel, Isaiah, Jacob, Jesus’ baptism, Mary, messages from God, messenger from God, monolith, Moses, sabbath, Samuel, Shirley Murray, St. Paul, theophanies today, Tramsfiguration, whispers of God
May 7, 2023

Name calling

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Most of us know that children’s expression, used when hurtful words are hurled in childish ways. Most of us have probably used it at one time or another, and most of us know it’s not true. Words do hurt us. We have… Continue reading

Ruminations

Aldous Huxley, Barbara Brown Taylor, Burrito Project, Caribbean Children's Fouindation, chosen, Christian, holy justice, Israel, Jacob, meaning of names, name calling, naming, power of a name, purpose, relationship with God, sticks and stones, vision, words can heal, words can hurt

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.

Jacob

Wrestling toward a new life

Theophanies

Name calling