testing

February 15, 2026

Rising to who you really are

“No one rises to low expectations.” That’s what Joe Brady said during the January 29 press conference when he was presented as the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills. He was talking about his expectations of himself in his new job. But he got me thinking about our expectations of ourselves in matters of… Continue reading

Ruminations

abundant life, baptism, choices, convictions, expectations, fully alive, Going to Jerusalem, honesty, identity, inner truth, integrity, Jesus, Joe Brady, maturity, ordinary life, questions, testing, transfiguration, who are you?
February 18, 2024

In the wilderness

One of the good jokes I like to tell is memorable for two reasons: it tells a story, and it’s about sudden and unexpected change. Few things are as painful as great and sudden change, so a good way to cope is to tell a joke about it. And the more painful the change, the… Continue reading

Ruminations

agents of God, angels, change, coping with change, faith, first things first, Lent, messengers of God, purpose, spiritual wilderness, Stephen Covey, Teilhard de Chardin, temptations, testing, Thomas Merton

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.

testing

Rising to who you really are

In the wilderness