The Afterword

Author: Peter

  • Shadow, Stillness, Shine

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    Peter
    in

    We’ve always had female border collies. Maybe it started with Footrot Flats—those funny cartoons full of loyal friends with more personality than most people. Maybe it was happenstance. Either way, dogs have walked beside us throughout our married life, and they’ve each left their pawprints on us in different ways. Jessie was our first. Fresh…

  • Jesus’ T&Cs – Mark 8:22-9:1

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    Peter
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    Who is Jesus to you? We ask so many questions—Who will I marry?What job will I take?Where will I live?But only one questionechoes into eternity. Who do you say I am? The crowds had their theories—The Baptist, Elijah, a prophet, a threat.Peter says it plainly:You are the Messiah.God’s King.But his vision is still blurred. Because…

  • Staying Soft

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    Peter
    in

    When I was a teenager, I heard someone say something that stayed with me: that he was lucky because he got paid to do what he would gladly do for nothing. He was a minister—an evangelist, to be precise—and his job was to tell people what he knew about God. And people paid him to…

  • The Quiet Ones

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    Peter
    in

    As an Australian, it almost feels like swimming is part of our DNA. We’re a coastal people—literally. Around 87% of us live within 50 kilometres of the coastline. All of our major cities hug the shore. That’s over 22 million people who call the coast home, and when we talk about the “classic Aussie holiday,”…

  • Heartbeat

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    Peter
    in

    There is something precious about the season of life that university represents. These years are often full of energy and possibility, and Robert Menzies College (RMC) gives space for students to embrace that—to enjoy the strength in their bodies, the openness of their futures, and the gift of being with others who are also finding…

  • When the Storm Came

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    Peter
    in

    When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Robert Menzies College (RMC) at Macquarie University, Sydney, found itself in a uniquely higher-risk setting. As a residential college, we faced a heightened potential for contagion. But rather than respond with fear or retreat, we chose to step forward—digging deep into our identity as a Caregiver institution. RMC has always…

  • Do You Still Not See? – Mark 7:24–8:30

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    Peter
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    It begins like marriage advice:Not with love,but with listening.Not just nodding—but hearing,asking,seeking to understand:“Did you say…?”Because what matters to themshould matter to you.And if we want depth with God—it’s the same. Jesus speaks.But we’re worried about bread.He multiplies loaves— twice.We count crumbs,miss meaning.He sighs,“Do you still not see?Are your hearts hardened?” The Pharisees ask for…

  • The Long Work of Peace

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    Peter
    in

    Peaceis not the absence of heat,but the refusal to set fire. It isthe trembling artof standing stillin the middle of serious, serious disagreementwithout reaching for the sword. I have shouted in love before—I have listened in silence and not loved at all.But peace asks more:not just to feel right,but to live rightwhen the table is…

  • About to Pass By – Mark 6:45-56

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    Peter
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    He saw them.Hours into the storm,oars digging into chaos,going nowhere.Obedient,but undone. He could have calmed it from the shore.He could have waited till morning.But he walked—across the deep,across the dark—his tired feeton top of what terrified them. And he was about to pass by them. Strange words.Why not stop?Why not speak first,shout over the wind,“I’m…

  • Before & After – Mark 4:35-5:43

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    Peter
    in

    Desperation,raw and unfiltered,crashes like waves against the fragile ribs of a boat.Fishermen, seasoned by salt and storm,shake in terror.A storm that silences courage,a darkness that devours hope. And yet—He sleeps.Not indifferent,but unshaken. “Don’t you care if we drown?”They cry out,as I have cried out,when the winds rise and the waters rise and I riseonly to…

  • Bearing Fruit – Mark 4:1-34

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    Peter
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    Mark 4:1-20 Original message by Andrew West, The Bridge Church Macquarie Park NSW The farmer is not careful with his seed.He flings it wide, casting it over stone and soil,over path and thorn and quiet earth.He does not measure the worth of the ground—he only sows, and sows, and sows. Some seed never settles, never…

  • God’s Rescue – Mark 3:7-35

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    Peter
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    They did not look at the mountains,not at the impossible ridges,not at the distance that swallowed men whole.Just one step, then another— Nando and Roberto,walking for those who could not,for those left behind in the silence of snow.# Rescue is the only questionwhen survival is a choice between two unbearable things:The slow starvation of waitingor…

  • The Scandal of Grace – Mark 2:1-3:6

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    Peter
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    News headlines flash with scandal—stories of self-serving politicians, celebrities, criminals, and shady business people,each demanding our click and our attention. Yet in a modest house in Capernaum, a different scandal unfolds.Jesus forgives sins. He welcomes those society has labelled as outcasts. Friends gather on a flat roof,lowering their paralysed friend through a broken ceiling,driven by…

  • Blessed are the Mirrors

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    Peter
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    Art holds my sadness,presses it gently into color and form,whispering—this, too, belongs. I trace the lines, carve the shape,and somewhere between the ink and the ache,God meets me. I have been searchingfor a place to set my grief down,for hands that do not rush to fixbut simply say—stay as long as you need. My mother’s…

  • Poem for a Friend

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    Peter
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    You stand in a culture that sells mirrorsand handcuffs them to worth.Scales. Dress sizes.The photo where your arms looked better—these are its gods. But you are not here to worship.You are here to rearrange the furniture. You’ve always loved the misfits.Not just the ones who bloom late,but the ones who don’t knowthey were planted at…

  • Holiness – 1 Kings 17-19

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    Peter
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    What kind of person am I becoming,as the days come and go,each one unfinished?I thought I’d be more by now—more generous, more faithful, more whole.The year begins, and I make my plans,but still, I falter. I look up to people like Elijah,bold and broken,a man who said there would be no rainand lived with the…

  • Through Seventy Years

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    Peter
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    Based on the Life Stories of Trevor & Patricia DavisWritten for their 70th Wedding Anniversary, 1 January 2025 It started with a barn dance,two strangers moving to the same rhythm.A quiet smile, a tentative question,May I walk you home?Patricia took a chance and said yes,and from that moment,two paths became one. Clarence Street saw your…

  • The Legacy of William Kneale

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    Peter
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    Based on family reflections at his funeral, 23 December 2024 Born in Bathurst,his childhood was free and untangled,filled with cricket in narrow lanewaysand radio adventures of Jason and the Argonauts.A talented batsman and tennis player,known locally for his skill,yet humble about his achievements.He chose to be a teacher—a career that spanned schools across the state,guiding…

  • Hark – Luke 2

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    Peter
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    Wake up, the angels sing—an ancient hymn unfurls,invitation stitched into every note. Come.The first cry of Christmas,frail and fierce,breaking the slumber of a weary world. What child is this,laid in a manger,when glory could dwell in temples?What holiness stoops lowto a cradle,to be clothed in the fragile fleshof the very ones who wander far? Solomon…

  • Preparing for Christmas – Luke 1:5-25, 57-80

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    Peter
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    Do you feel ready for Christmas?It sneaks up,wrapped in year-end busyness,tangled in parties and plans,always just a step ahead of my heart. But the first Christmas—were they ready?A world forgot its God,hearts veiled in distance.They needed a voice in the wilderness,someone to clear the way,turning heads and hearts,calling for repentance. Repentance—a word we hide from,a…