The Afterword

Author: Peter

  • What Excites Me Now

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    Peter
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    There was a time when excitement meant chasing new goals — building a career, learning new things, and taking opportunities as they came. I’m not someone who lives for travel, but whether for work, family, or leisure, we’ve ended up visiting every continent — including some very wild places. Antarctica earlier this year was a…

  • When Peace and Principle Collide

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    Peter
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    A reflection on ideological certainty and harmony I am known for being easy to get along with. And also, for being stubborn. It’s a combination that puzzles people. I don’t mind that. I’ve learned over time that harmony doesn’t come from sameness, and peace doesn’t come from everyone agreeing with me. I don’t need to…

  • What Is Your Favorite Genre of Music? It depends on the day. And sometimes, it is a surprise.

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    Peter
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    Some people have a favourite genre like they have a favourite coffee order — fixed, dependable, always the same. I’m not one of those people. For me, music is mood. It’s memory. It’s atmosphere and longing and curiosity all rolled together. My listening habits are not about allegiance to a particular genre but about what…

  • To Walk With God – Leviticus 26

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    Peter
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    He is not silent.He is not distant.He is the Onewho split the sea,who broke the yoke,who carried you out of Egyptwhen your arms were too weak to lift. You didn’t earn rescue.You were just there—and he came. Forty-nine timeshis name pulses through Leviticus:I am the Lord.This is not legislation for its own sake.It is the…

  • The Accidental Paradise

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    Peter
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    When we were newly married and living in the Northern Rivers of NSW, holidays were simple by necessity. We didn’t have much money and were a long way from family, so our usual approach was to throw a tent in the car and see where we ended up. One January, we decided to head north,…

  • The Quiet Work of Hearing

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    Peter
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    I wouldn’t claim to be an authority in the traditional sense — someone with all the answers or the loudest voice in the room. But I’ve spent a lifetime learning how to listen — to people, to texts, to what lies beneath the surface. My doctorate focused on preaching after Christendom: how to open the…

  • You Are Loved. You Are Loved. You Are Loved.

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    Peter
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    Not because you made the bedor remembered the milkor said all the right thingswith perfect timing. Not because you were brilliant todayor productiveor funnyor strong. But just—because you are here. Because when you walked inwith sleep in your eyesor silence in your mouthsomething in me softened. Because your laugheven the tired onerings familiarlike a song…

  • A Small Echo of What You Gave

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    Peter
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    Over the past year, I’ve found myself expressing gratitude in a new way — through writing. More specifically, through poems. Most Sundays, after church, I write a short reflective poem in response to the sermon. I started doing this quietly, almost experimentally, as a way of thinking more deeply about the message that I heard.…

  • Worried About the Future, Anchored in Hope

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    Peter
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    What am I most worried about for the future? At the moment, it’s the rise of autocratic leaders in various parts of the world. That’s what keeps pressing on my mind. The ease with which power consolidates around a single figure. The dismantling of institutions that were meant to outlast any one person. The echo…

  • Good vs. Great: The Difference a Teacher Makes

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    Peter
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    It’s a good question: What makes a teacher great? We’ve all known teachers who were good — even brilliant — at their subject. But that’s not the same as being great. At the school I attended, the smartest minds in the staff room were often the poorest teachers. They understood their material, but not their…

  • The Jubilee – Leviticus 25

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    Peter
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    This is an odd book for us in 2025—regulations, rhythms, sabbaths, soil—but liberty is etchedon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia:“Proclaim liberty throughout the landto all its inhabitants.”Leviticus, of all things. We want to be free.God wants it more.He etched freedom into the calendar—every fiftieth year,a holy reset,a factory restorefor a fractured world. Imagine Sarah,her cupboards…

  • A Medical Mystery (with All Original Parts)

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    Peter
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    When people start talking surgeries, medications, or hospital stays, I tend to sit quietly and wonder if I missed a rite of passage. I’m in my late 60s, and the only time I’ve been near a hospital bed was 20 years ago for an outpatient procedure. No overnight stay. No gown. No jelly cup. I…

  • A Day in the Life (With Minor Interruptions)

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    Peter
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    My days start early. I get up around 4:30am—sometimes earlier, sometimes later. I never set an alarm. It’s just when I wake up. I wasn’t always a morning person—in my 20s I was the opposite—but the older I get, the earlier I rise. The first thing I do is feed the animals. Both the dog…

  • Tiny Daily Shifts: A Habitual Approach to Sustainability

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    Peter
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    People sometimes ask what it looks like to live more sustainably day-to-day, as though the answer might be sweeping or heroic. But most of the time, for me, it’s less about bold gestures and more about habits — small decisions, repeated daily, that shift the dial a little. Here are a few I try to…

  • “Mon Dieu, C’est Délicieux!” – The Summer Dish That Leaves the Room Silent

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    Peter
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    I’m the main cook in our house. Since I work from home most days, I’m usually the one who does the shopping too. When life gets busy, meals can get a bit repetitive — the same rotation of favourites, week after week. But every now and then, I get a burst of inspiration and try…

  • The Outfit I’d Be Willing to Be Known For

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    Peter
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    Or, The Guy in the Red Vest If I had to wear one outfit over and over again, I already know what it would be. Not because it’s the most flattering thing I’ve ever owned, or the most fashionable. But because I’ve already worn it, over and over. And I’ve already been known for it.…

  • Not What I Expected: On Spirituality, Surprise, and the Shape of Faith

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    Peter
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    Spirituality is very important in my life. That probably sounds predictable—I’m a minister, after all, and have spent my entire adult life in one form of ministry or another. You’d expect spirituality to be central to me. But the truth is, I didn’t grow up in a particularly spiritual household. Ours was a solid, reliable,…

  • Set Apart: A Candle in Leipzig – Leviticus 21

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    Peter
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    In Leipzig, the pews whispered fear.But Christian Fuhreropened the church anyway.He expected ten.One hundred came.He read the Sermon on the Mount alouduntil it filled the arches like wind.Stasi eyes stared from the pews.The state said no god but power.By year eight—seventy thousand candlesglowed against tanks and roadblocks.They walked the streets with light in hand.No rocks.No…

  • A Royal Waste of Time: Why I Wish I Wasted More

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    Peter
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    This is an intriguing question: How do you waste the most time every day?Part of me wonders—do I waste enough? Marva Dawn wrote a book I’ve returned to often, titled A Royal Waste of Time. She suggests that much of our modern thinking—even in worship—gets caught up in outcomes and effectiveness. Did it connect? Did…

  • The Offal Truth: A Taste of Childhood

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    Peter
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    One day, when we’re finally through this obsession with novelty—when every meal doesn’t need a backstory and options—I’ll sit down with the next generation and  tell them what real courage looked like. It looked like sitting down to dinner on a Thursday night knowing it was going to be fish fingers, and doing it anyway.…