The Afterword

Tag: dailyprompt

  • Light and Shadow

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    Peter
    in

    When you’re a child, everything feels big. The days stretch long, the friendships feel forever, and even the smallest moment can fill the whole sky. Childhood is made of contrasts — light and shadow living side by side. I remember the joy first. Endless days with Robert, three doors up the street. We played until…

  • Three Wishes

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    Peter
    in

    You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for? The genie blinked, rubbing his eyes as if he’d just woken from centuries of sleep.“Three wishes,” he said, stretching his arms. “Anything you want.” I looked at him — this weary servant of human desire — and said, “I don’t want anything for myself.”He…

  • The Heirloom

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    Peter
    in

    Describe a family member My mother is ninety-one. Her memory drifts now, and her balance is unsteady. She no longer knows what day it is, or where she is. She knows that my father sleeps at home, but she can no longer remember where that home is. She lives in a nursing home now, where…

  • The Man Who Walks Things to the Bin

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    Peter
    in

    What is your favourite form of physical exercise? I walk.I walk the dog every morning, a loyal companion beside me as the neighbourhood wakes.I walk to the shops and back, when others would drive.I walk ideas into shape — a podcast in my ears, a thought in my head, and before long, the start of…

  • Grounded

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    Peter
    in

    How much would you pay to go to the moon? I suppose there are a number of attractions to going to the moon. It would be exotic — the trip of a lifetime. Awe inspiring. Perspective shifting. People say that astronauts who have travelled there are never quite the same again. But beyond that, it…

  • 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
    in

    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
    in

    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
    in

    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
    in

    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…

  • 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
    in

    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
    in

    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
    in

    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
    in

    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
    in

    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…

  • What I’ve Been Putting Off

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    by

    Peter
    in

    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
    in

    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
    in

    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…