The Afterword

Author: Peter

  • A Culture of Life – James 5:13-20

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    Peter
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    Is anyone among you in trouble?Then pray.Not because prayer is a leverand God is a machine,but because trouble reminds uswe are childrenturning againtoward the Father. Is anyone happy?Then sing.Praise is prayerwith its hands open,naming goodnesswhile it is still before us. Is anyone sick?Then call the elders.Let the community come close.Let oil be brought,medicine and sign,ordinary…

  • The Kind of Voice I Trust

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    Who is your favourite blogger to follow? That’s a good question. I follow a few bloggers, but there isn’t one who clearly stands above all the others. Maybe that is because I don’t really follow bloggers. I follow voices. The voices I am drawn to are honest, reflective, humane, and not trying too hard. They…

  • Before The Problem Starts Shouting

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    Peter
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    What’s a lesson you’ve learned recently that shifted your perspective? Problems often speak before they shout. That is something I have been learning recently. Looking back, there have been situations where the signs were there early in the piece. They were not dramatic. They were not disasters. No alarms were ringing. But there were small…

  • In Praise of a Boring Evening

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    Peter
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    What do you do to improve your sleep? My strategy is simple: I try to keep the evening boring. That may not sound like much of a sleep strategy. It is not clever. It is not glamorous. But it works. Most of us know the basics. No doom-scrolling. No late caffeine. A predictable routine. A…

  • Who’s Counting?

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    Peter
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    Hit 5,000 steps today and dropyour achievement here— we’re cheering you on! Confession time: I don’t count steps. I don’t have an app. I don’t have a fitness tracker. I don’t check my progress during the day. I just walk. Weird, I know. But I could probably work it out. This morning’s 30-minute walk with…

  • Give Them a Chair, Not the Microphone

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    Peter
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    What’s the best way to deal with negative thoughts? Negative thoughts are not always lies, but they are rarely good leaders. It does not take much for them to emerge. A rash reaction you now regret. A mistake you wish you could undo. An embarrassing moment you would happily erase if you could. Before long…

  • More or Less

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    Peter
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    What do you love now, that you hated when you were younger? When I was younger, more seemed better. I loved to read, and building a library was something I valued. Book by book, shelf by shelf, I watched the collection grow. There was satisfaction in it. A growing library felt like a sign of…

  • One Small Act of Trust

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    Peter
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    What’s a time you followed your gut and it turned out to be exactly right? Sometimes you meet someone briefly and sense that they are trustworthy. I met him in Tanzania. I was there working on a project and he was assigned as my translator when I spoke at a church. We were together for…

  • Ask for Patience – James 5:7-12

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    Peter
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    It was the best of timesand it was the worst of times,and James knew it. He wrote to peoplecaught in contradiction,faithful to Jesus,yet still suffering,still divided. Stress exposed weakness.Weakness found a tunnel.Pain became frustration.Frustration became grumbling. So James says,be patient.Not passive.Not numb.Not pretending.Patient. Long suffering.Able to take a hitwithout returning one.Able to choose gracewhen irritation…

  • Stephen Colbert for Emperor

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    Peter
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    Emperor Palpatine has announced open elections for a new Emperor — and he’s nominated Darth Vader. You get to nominate one challenger. This is the sort of election where the outcome feels predetermined. When the sitting Emperor endorses a towering figure in black armour who can strangle people with his mind, one suspects democracy may…

  • Together

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    Peter
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    What is something you used to believe as a kidthat seems ridiculous now? When I was a child, I believed that adults knew what they were doing. Adults seemed to know how life worked. They knew how money worked, what to do when something broke, and how to respond when something went wrong. They seemed…

  • Watership Down

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    Peter
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    What is a piece of media (book, movie, song)that changed how you see the world? I loved Watership Down when it came out in 1978. I saw the film first, and was so affected by it that I went on to read the book. That is very rare for me. Usually, if I have seen…

  • The Wisdom of Unfinished Endings

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    Peter
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    If you could change the ending of any book, which one would it be? I must admit that I baulk at the question. The reason is simple. I respect art too much. A book is not a product for my satisfaction. It is the work of another person’s imagination. So whether I like the ending…

  • Meeting People Part Way

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    Peter
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    Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life? I admire people who can speak multiple languages. Working in a university college, I spend my days talking with students from all over the world. The are here to study degrees that are taught in English but many of them speak multiple languages.…

  • Keep It Simple

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    Peter
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    What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you? The best advice I would give to someone younger than me is this: keep things simple. That may sound too plain to be useful, but a lot of wisdom is plain. We often make life harder than it needs to be. We overthink, rehearse,…

  • Making It Happen Without Making a Fuss

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    Peter
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    Who are you most inspired by? I am increasingly inspired by people whose names never appear in headlines. They are the ones who turn up, notice what needs doing, and do it without making a fuss. Brilliance has its place. We need gifted people. But as I get older, I find myself more deeply moved…

  • What It Rests Upon – James 4:13-5:6

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    Peter
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    The tone changes here.No gentle encouragement.No careful instruction. A prophet has walked into the room.Like Jonah in Nineveh,James points and says:Look. You stand condemned. The merchants make their plans.The wealthy count their coins.The powerful drag their own peoplebefore the courts.Silver. Gold.The things that seem untouchable.James says, Look again.Even the things we trust mostcannot carry the…

  • Character Outlasts Achievement

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    Peter
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    What is your top tip to be successful in life? My top tip for being successful in life is simple: character outlasts achievement. We live in a world that measures success by what can be counted, announced, awarded, or displayed. Titles, income, influence, publications, prizes, and recognition all have their place. Achievement matters. Good work…

  • Watching M.A.S.H. for the First Time Again

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    Peter
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    What’s a book, movie, or TV show that youwish you could experience again for the first time? I was late to the party when it came to M.A.S.H. It was not a show we ever watched at home. Then I went to college, and suddenly it became part of the daily rhythm. Straight after dinner,…

  • Joyful, Anyway

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    Peter
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    What is a common misconception people have about happiness? A common misconception about happiness is that it means being satisfied with everything. That is not true. In fact, it may be one of the more damaging ideas we carry. It suggests that if we are truly happy, we should be undisturbed by grief, injustice, disappointment,…