reign of God

June 14, 2026

The harvest is plentiful

“[Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” (Matt. 9:37-38). It sounds like he might be asking his disciples to pray that someone else be sent to labor in the harvest, that someone else be… Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, authentic community, Bowling Alone, harvest, homeless, hungry, living abundantly, loving neighbors, Martin Luther, neighbors, priesthood of all baptized Christians, rebuilding America, reign of God, Robert Putnam
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?
March 23, 2025

When night becomes day

Here’s a game that might make your Lent a little more interesting. It’s called “Purgatory,” named for the waiting room where, some Christians believe, your sins are purged and your soul is purified before entering heaven. The way the game’s inventor imagined it, people with contradictory views of life would be paired with each other… Continue reading

Ruminations

a school of the Lord’s service, differences, heaven, heaven on earth, January 6 insurrection, Lent, middle ground, one body in Christ, partisan division, Purgatory, reign of God, resolving differences, St. Benedict, St. Paul, St. Peter
February 11, 2024

To see and be seen

Some of you remember a television game show from the 1960s called To Tell the Truth. A guest with some unusual occupation or experience would appear with two impostors to be interviewed by four celebrities who tried to identify the authentic guest. After some questioning, the host would say, “Would the real [guest’s name] please… Continue reading

Ruminations

a quiet place, Annie Dillard, describing a mystery, Francis Bacon, Jesus, Listening, memorable conversations, mystery, PhilipGlass, quiet, reign of God, Retreat, seven veils, Solitude, spiritual communion, the problem with listening, To Tell the Truth, who am I
September 18, 2023

Love in difficult conversations

To love someone, to be in authentic relationship with someone, is to value that person. It is to recognize that person as having an essential, indispensable role to play in God’s ongoing creation, even if I don’t have a clue what that role might be. It’s to recognize that without that person, I can never… Continue reading

Ruminations

agreement, Christian love, community, differences, difficult conversations, disagreement, divisions, factions, gospel, inquiry, inquisition, Irshad Manji, Jeremiah, justice, kingdom of heaven, law of God, law of life, Listening, namaste, new covenant, opinions, peace, reconciliation, reign of God, table of grace
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 23, 2023

A gritty faith

The best-known book of the late Oliver Sacks, a physician and professor of neurology, may be one with the fascinating title, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, in which he describes patients struggling to live with conditions ranging from Tourette’s syndrome to autism, parkinsonism, musical hallucination, epilepsy, phantom limb syndrome, schizophrenia, retardation,… Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant faith, Angela Lee Duckworth, authentic faith, E.B. White, Emmaus Road, grit, Mary Magdaline, Now we see things imperfectly, Oliver Sacks, Peter, predicting success, predictors of success, reign of God, risen Christ, stories of resurrection, the beloved disciple, the desert tradition, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, William Bathurst
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
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
March 20, 2022

When night ends and day begins

There’s a game that might make your Lent a little more interesting; it does mine. It’s called “Purgatory,” named for the waiting room where, some Christians believe, your sins are purged and your soul is purified before entering heaven. The way poet W.H. Auden invented the game, writers with contradictory views of life would be… Continue reading

Ruminations

banquet of heaven, body of Christ, Catholic spirit, competition, divisions, Don Corleone, Emily Dickinson, gospel, heaven, heaven on earth, inner contradictions, John Wesley, kingdom of God, Lent, liveral vs. conservative, members one of another, middle ground, now or never, partisan animosity, Paul and Peter, Purgatory, reign of God, St. Paul, The Godfather, unity, unity in diversity, W.H. Auden, Walt Whitman

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.