The Afterword

Author: Peter

  • The Common Thread

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    Peter
    in

    What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in? They say most people will work four or five different careers in their lifetime. That’s certainly been true for me — though looking back, I’m not sure I’ve ever really changed careers. The work has always been the same: helping things grow. I began…

  • The Shared Table

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    Peter
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    What food would you say is your specialty? I don’t really think of myself as having a specialty. There are meals I enjoy cooking for myself, but they rarely excite anyone else — small experiments, quiet comforts for a crowd of one. When I cook for others, though, the table changes. That’s where my specialties…

  • History in Black and White

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    Peter
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    What major historical events do you remember? The first world event I remember is the death of President Kennedy. I was a kid in infants school. The news came through our black-and-white television — one my father built himself, his engineer’s pride sitting square in the corner of the lounge room. We were among the…

  • The Desert I Still Might Cross

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    Peter
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    What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to? If I were a younger man, I might try to cross a desert. But I’m not, so I’ll settle for something more realistic — the Larapinta Trail in Central Australia. It runs 223 kilometres from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder, one…

  • Sowing into Others

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    Peter
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    What are you most proud of in your life? The world keeps rushing,always reaching for something more,but the people I’ve walked besideare doing steady, faithful things. They are learning,listening,finding their own way forward. I’ve seen them grow through doubt and grace,through ordinary days that mattered more than they knew. And I don’t need to measure…

  • Who Wants To Be  A Trillionaire? – 1 Peter 1:13-25

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    Peter
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    Elon Musk has not yet become a trillionaire.Halfway there, they say —five hundred billion reasonsto keep going.More than the worth of a hundred and sixty nations,and still, he worksone hundred and twenty hours a week.What drives a manwho already owns the world? What motivates you?What keeps your mind awake at night,or sends you running before…

  • When the World Is Asleep

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    Peter
    in

    What have you been working on? Sometimes the work begins when the world is asleep. Last night the phone rang well after midnight — a mother, frightened and far away, worried for her son who hadn’t been in touch since early evening. Her son is an international student staying in our residential college. She couldn’t…

  • The Boy Who Stepped In

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    Peter
    in

    What’s something most people don’t know about you? My first year at school was a blur of anxiety and confusion. I was only four, too young to understand what was happening. My best friend was still at home, nine months younger, and the playground felt like another planet. I hadn’t been to pre-school, so I…

  • Rest and Productivity

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    Peter
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    Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive? Productivity:You again? I thought we agreed you’d keep to Sundays.I’ve got things to do — lists that don’t tick themselves. Rest:I know. You always do.But your shoulders are up near your ears again,and that list is starting to look like a barrier,not a bridge. Productivity:Someone has…

  • When I Think of Success

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    Peter
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    When you think of the word “successful,”who’s the first person that comes to mind and why? The first person who comes to mind is Paul Barnett, who served as the second Master of Robert Menzies College from 1980 to 1990 before becoming the Anglican Bishop of North Sydney. He recently turned ninety, and though his…

  • Through Many Moves

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    Peter
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    What makes a good neighbour? I’ve moved a lot. Different streets, different locations. Each one teaches you something about people and how we live near each other. When I was a kid, our street was full of children. We were in and out of each other’s houses all the time. There were small irritations but…

  • Friendship at This Stage of Life

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    Peter
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    What could you try for the first time? I know it sounds strange, but I’m going to try something that comes innately to three- and four-year-olds. Something my dog does without thinking. I’m going to try to be more intentional about friendship. That might sound odd for someone who already has friends — some going…

  • Psalm of Small Obediences

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    Peter
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    What principles define how you live? Teach me, O God,not to win, but to walk.Not to fix, but to stay faithfulto the quiet work of right and mercy. You have shown us what is good:to act justly —not only in grand momentsbut in the slow, unseen fairnessof listening well,of keeping promises,of saying the hard truth…

  • Exiles with a Living Hope – 1 Peter 1:1-12

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    Peter
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    All around the world,our brothers and sisters suffer—imprisoned, beaten, killed.Twelve churches attacked each day.Four thousand four hundred people killedthis year alonebecause they named the name of Jesus. We are strangers here,foreigners in our own land,and it feels strange because it is.We do not quite belong.Our neighbours say, Yeah, nah,and laugh,while we feel the tug of…

  • What I’ve Been Putting Off

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    Peter
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    What have you been putting off doing? Why? Here’s a list of things I’ve been putting off: At first glance, it’s just a list of chores. But they form a quiet constellation — pieces of life I’ve postponed because they each deserve more than a rushed hour squeezed between meetings and errands. The boxes hold…

  • The First Car

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    Peter
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    When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)? The first time I felt like an adult wasn’t marked by a big moment. It was practical and ordinary. It happened when I bought my first car. I was still living at home and had just started my first full-time job.…

  • The Ripple Effect

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    Peter
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    If I had a million dollars to give away, I know exactly where it would go.It would go to people who believe — as I do — that education changes everything. I’ve spent my whole adult life helping people grow. It’s the thread that runs through everything that has mattered to me: seeing people develop…

  • If I Couldn’t Fail

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    Peter
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    If I couldn’t fail, I’d buy a patch of land — a tired stretch of soil and scrub — and try to bring it back to life. I’d plant local eucalypts and grevilleas, wattles and banksias, enough variety to invite the birds back and coax the insects home. I’d watch the contours of the land…

  • The Hardest Goal I Ever Set

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    Peter
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    What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself? It began with an idea.A flicker really — a connection I started to notice between my interest in creative writing and my practice as a preacher. Both, I realised, were about shaping meaning, holding attention, and opening space for discovery. I thought a doctorate might…

  • The Ones Who Stay With Me: John Coburn

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    Peter
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    When I think about my favourite artists, I don’t immediately picture a museum wall or a famous exhibition. I think of the painting that hangs in our home — one that has moved with us from house to house, always finding pride of place. It’s by John Coburn, the Australian abstract painter whose work captures…