Author: Peter
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How Quickly We Trust The Axe
– reflections in the shadow of Isaiah 10 What bothers meis how quickly we trust the axe. How easily we forgetthat violence, even when it seems effective,is never virtuous.That power, however polished,is not the same as wisdom.That God may use the axe,but God is never its servant. I’ve been sitting with Isaiah —sitting in the…
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Ten Things I Know for Sure
God is good,even when the news is not,even when the plan doesn’t land,even when I forget. People bloomwhen given light—a listening ear,a meaningful task,a seat at the table. Peace is worth morethan being rightabout the colour of the chairsor the pace of the meeting.Some hills are not worth dying on.Some are. Words matter.They hold,they wound,they…
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To Be With Me Where I Am – John 17
The world keeps score.Finland, for seven years, sits at the topof happiness rankings—clean air, quiet lakes, long days.Australia is close, they say.But we know better.We who live saturated lives,bright with choices,but dimmed at the edgesby a restlessness we cannot name. Where is the joy the Bible speaks of?Where is the peace that surpasses?We scroll. We…
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The Third Way
Interviewer: Are you seeking security or adventure? Me:Neither.I made that choice decades ago. No regrets. Interviewer: That’s unusual. Most people aim for one or the other—either a solid foundation or something that makes the heart race.Me:I get that.But both are inward-looking.Security asks, “Am I safe?”Adventure asks, “Am I thrilled?”I asked, “What matters most?” Interviewer: And…
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When Everything Happens
One minute I’m laughing with Kate Bowler, the next I’m quiet. That’s the effect she has—a sharp observer of life’s contradictions, able to name both the absurd and the sacred in the same breath. She grew up in a Mennonite megachurch in Winnipeg—an unlikely mix of pacifism and spectacle. She now teaches at Duke Divinity…
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What gets better with age?
Life. We had a big school reunion last year. I wasn’t sure what to expect—decades had passed—but it turned out to be surprisingly good. Familiar faces, stories retold, gaps filled in. A few of us met up again before Christmas. No agenda, just time to talk. One friend shared how he’d spent years teaching chess…
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The Gift of Quiet Hours
I usually go to bed at 9.00pm. After a full day, I’m ready for it. There’s no fanfare—just a slow wind-down and sleep not far behind. And then I wake at 4.30am. No alarm, no urgency. Just the quiet sense that the day has begun. It feels like I’m the only one awake—until I start…
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Morning Pages, Morning Peace
For me, writing is one of the most reliable sources of comfort. I don’t journal in the traditional sense—there’s no “dear diary” and no record of what I did the day before. Instead, I write about something that has caught my attention, or I respond to a prompt like this one. Some mornings, my mind…
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What Excites Me Now
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…
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When Peace and Principle Collide
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…
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What Is Your Favorite Genre of Music? It depends on the day. And sometimes, it is a surprise.
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…
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To Walk With God – Leviticus 26
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…
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The Accidental Paradise
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,…
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The Quiet Work of Hearing
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…
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You Are Loved. You Are Loved. You Are Loved.
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…
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A Small Echo of What You Gave
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.…
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Worried About the Future, Anchored in Hope
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…
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Good vs. Great: The Difference a Teacher Makes
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…
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The Jubilee – Leviticus 25
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…
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A Medical Mystery (with All Original Parts)
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…
The Afterword 