Author: Peter
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The Week Someone Else Became Me
What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced? I have always had a fairly naïve faith that if you tell the truth, things will eventually sort themselves out. One small and stupid episode from many years ago shook that confidence. I received a court summons for fare evasion. Apparently, I had caught a train into the…
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The Book That Beat Me
What’s a book you never finished but still think about? Many years ago I took The Brothers Karamazov on holidays because I thought this was what holidays were for. I imagined lazy afternoons with Dostoyevsky. A chair somewhere quiet. Maybe a cup of coffee. Enough uninterrupted time to wrestle with God and freedom and suffering…
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Happy Feet
Which fictional world would be the most fun to vacation in? If I could vacation in any fictional world, I think I’d choose Happy Feet. Partly because it would be fun. Antarctica, but with dancing penguins. Vast sheets of ice, deep blue water, enormous skies, music everywhere. There would be something wonderfully ridiculous about sliding…
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The Dancing Man
If you could go back and witness any historical event,which one would you pick? If I could go back and witness any historical event, I think I’d like to be standing in George Street in Sydney on 15 August 1945. There are bigger moments. More important places. More famous people. But I think I’d rather…
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Three Small Words
If you had to get a tattoo right now, what would it be and why? I have never been drawn to tattoos. I have always thought the human body is attractive in itself, without needing further adornment. But if I had to get one, I think I would choose three tiny words from Micah 6:8:…
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Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly – Micah 6:1-8
Micah is the Batmanof the prophets.He walks into a citythat looks respectable from a distancebut is rotten underneath.The powerful protect themselves.Leaders have lost their way.The poor are trampled.Justice is for sale.Gotham with temples. And Micah comesnot from the palacebut from the country.A nobody from nowheresent by Godto stand beneath the city lightsand say,God sees you.He…
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Narara Music Festival
How did you meet your significant other? We really met at a music festival over forty years ago. We had crossed paths before. We were both on a beach mission team at Ulladulla on the South Coast of NSW. We had a common friend, and I remember her singing one night in a coffee shop.…
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Democracy Sausage
What’s a cultural tradition from your country that you love? One Australian cultural tradition I love is the democracy sausage. On election day, after voting at the local school or community hall, you can often buy a barbecued sausage in a slice of bread, usually with onions and tomato sauce. In some places, the whole…
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The Last Day in Antarctica
If you could relive one day from your past, which day would it be and why? If I could relive one day from my past, it would be our last day in Antarctica. It was the culmination of a trip we had saved towards for fifteen years, a celebration of a significant birthday for my…
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Yes, Yes, Yes
What’s the last movie that made you cry? I watched Song Sung Blue on the flight home from Vietnam. My brother had recommended it, and I had never quite got around to seeing it at the movies. There is one scene I found strangely moving. Mike and Claire are in the middle of an intense…
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What If Television Had Never Been Invented?
If you could erase one event from history, what would it be? I sometimes wonder what evenings would have been like if television had never been invented. Not in any grand sense. Just ordinary evenings. People would have read more, probably. Listened to the radio. Played records. Gone outside. Talked to neighbours. Sat around a…
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What Happened to Making Things Well?
What’s a conspiracy theory you actually find believable? I bought a Tivoli Audio radio about 25 years ago. Part of the attraction was the philosophy behind it. Henry Kloss had spent decades designing audio equipment and, late in life, returned to something wonderfully simple: one really good radio. No screen. No app. No software updates.…
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From the Known to the Unknown
How do you deal with uncertainty? A friend put it well the other day: move from the known to the unknown. She’s smart, and I think she’s right. When things are uncertain, there are usually still some things we know. Facts. Experience. Values. What has worked before. What matters most. Start there. Use what you…
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Let Justice Roll – Amos 5:1-27, 9:11-15
The lion roars.Not because God delights in fire,but because the poor are being trampledinto the dust.The innocent sold for silver.The needy tradedfor the price of sandals.And the terrible thing is this:these are God’s people. The people called to bless the nationshave become like the nations.Those entrusted with justicehave learned the habits of injustice.Those meant to…
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When You Realise You’re the Adult
What’s a moment when you realized you were officially an adult? Adulthood is a series of progressions. You get your driver’s licence and discover a new freedom. You vote for the first time. You start work and begin finding your way in the world. You move out of home, get married, perhaps buy your first…
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Firedoor
Which is the best restaurant in your city? Last year, for my wife’s birthday, we went to Firedoor in Surry Hills for lunch. It was expensive. But it was also a special occasion, and it turned out to be a memorable meal. The food was excellent, the atmosphere relaxed and warm, and the service managed…
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Trust the Hunch
If you had a time machine and could send just one messageto your past self, what would it say? If I had a time machine and could send just one message to my younger self, it would be: Trust the hunch. Not because every instinct is right, or because careful thought does not matter. But…
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Where Do You See Grace?
Which author would you love to have dinner with? If I could have dinner with an author, I would choose Tim Winton. But not in a restaurant. I imagine fish and chips somewhere on the Western Australian coast, sitting outside with the ocean stretching away in front of us. And there would be one condition:…
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People Were the Point
If your future self could send you one sentence,what do you hope it would say? If my future self could send me one sentence, I hope it might say: “The people mattered more than the projects.” My mother often told me that I took on too much and needed to do less. She was probably…
The Afterword 