Peter's Path is my personal endeavour to live a life of purpose through hiking, reading, and embracing the beauty of nature, faith, and ideas.
Why read the book? Jules Verne published Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 1864. Professor Otto Lidenbrock finds a coded message from an old Icelandic explorer. He sets out with his nephew Axel and a quiet guide named Hans. They climb into a volcano in Iceland and descend through tunnels into a vast underground world. There they cross a sea, face storms, and see creatures from long past ages.…
Why read the book? Robert Louis Stevenson published Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. The story is short and direct. A lawyer named Gabriel Utterson investigates the strange behaviour of his friend Dr Henry Jekyll and the cruel acts of a man called Edward Hyde. Jekyll has found a way to separate the good and evil sides of his own nature through a chemical mixture. The book shows how…
Why read the book? Yossi Cohen served as director of Mossad from 2016 to 2021. In The Sword of Freedom he describes how Israel has faced existential threats and still found ways to defend itself. He explains key operations, including the 2018 seizure of Iran’s nuclear archive and the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist. He also writes about the work that helped lead to the Abraham Accords.…
Why read the book? Nick Needham wrote 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 4: The Age of Religious Conflict. It is the fourth book in his clear and readable church history series. This volume covers the years from the late sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century. Needham shows how the Reformation left Europe in a state of deep uncertainty and conflict. He gives clear accounts of…
Posts The following posts were written last month. Books 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 2 by Nick Needham Can I Trust The Bible? by R.C. Sproul 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 3 by Nick Needham Zero to One by Peter Thiel Does Prayer Change Things? by R.C. Sproul Journal Goodbye to Nikki and Anouk Hiking Marskramer Path part 08 Distance Activity Distance (km) Walking 285.13…
Hiked part 5/27 of the Pelgrims Path, 18.82 kilometres from Reeuwijk to Haastrecht. You walk right through the Reeuwijkse Plassen along the narrow lanes that separate the lakes. In 1657 four felled ash trees were said to have supernatural powers when a wood chip fell into the water, sank, and floated back up covered with crosses and images of Mary. Hike report Reeuwijkse Plassen Paths and…
Today two colleagues said goodbye. It is hitting me harder than I thought. I cried. Nikki and Anouk appreciated my honesty. They were honest with me too. That is rare. Honesty is not a given in the world today. It is full of fakes and people playing games. I fully understand why they left the company. That understanding makes me pause. It makes me think for myself. Nikki and Anouk, I wish you the…
Why read the book? R.C. Sproul answers a common question: does prayer make any difference? He shows that prayer does not change the mind of God. God already knows and plans all things. Yet prayer still changes things. God uses the prayers of His people as one means to bring about His will. The book also shows that prayer changes the one who prays. It softens the heart and builds obedience. Sproul…
Why read the book? Peter Thiel explains how to build companies that create new value instead of improving on old ideas. He shows that the best businesses escape competition by solving unique problems and securing monopoly positions. The book draws on his time founding PayPal and investing in firms like Facebook. Thiel stresses that copying successful products only leads to small gains. Real…
Why read the book? Nick Needham wrote 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 3: The Renaissance and Reformation. It is the third book in his clear and readable church history series. This volume covers the period from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation up to the early seventeenth century. Needham explains how new ideas, the printing press, and…
Hiked part 8/20 of the Marskramer Path, 17.92 kilometres from Deventer to Klarenbeek. Along the IJsselkade in Deventer you will see the fast-flowing river IJssel, after which the stage runs over the dike and along floodplains to the south. You pass swamps and wheels that have arisen from dike breaches. Via Gietelo you arrive in Klarenbeek at the strange and abandoned train station. Hike…
Posts The following posts were written last month. Biking Biking in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park Biking in Hollandse Duinen National Park Books The Odyssey by Homer 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 1 by Nick Needham Hiking Marskramer Path part 07 TV For All Mankind Distance Activity Distance (km) Walking 193.44 Hiking 18.72 Running 0 Biking 72.29 Swimming 0 IceSkating 0 Skating 0 Rowing…
Why read the book? R.C. Sproul wrote Can I Trust The Bible? It is a short and clear book from his Crucial Questions series. Sproul takes the most common objections people raise against the Bible and answers them one by one. He looks at questions such as whether the Bible contains contradictions, whether it is historically accurate, and whether science has disproved its claims. He also explains…
Why read the book? Nick Needham wrote 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 2: The Middle Ages. It is the second book in his clear and readable church history series. This volume covers the long medieval period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century to the years just before the Protestant Reformation in the early sixteenth century. Needham explains how the church spread…
For All Mankind is an American science fiction drama on Apple TV. Ronald D. Moore created it with Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi. It imagines an alternate history where the Soviet Union reaches the Moon first, and the space race never ends. Joel Kinnaman plays the astronaut Ed Baldwin. The idea is simple and strong. The Americans lose the first race, so they do not stop. Each season jumps forward in…
Biked in Hollandse Duinen National Park with a distance of 37.40 kilometres. Hollandse Duinen National Park runs along the South Holland coast from Hook of Holland to Katwijk, wrapping around The Hague. Its dunes, beaches, and dune lakes form one of the largest coastal nature areas in the Netherlands, threaded with cycling paths and alive with birds. Ride report Through The Hague and into the…
Biked in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park with a distance of 31.34 kilometres. Zuid-Kennemerland National Park sits on the North Sea coast in the province of North Holland, between Haarlem, Bloemendaal, and IJmuiden. Its dunes, woodland, and open grassland are grazed by European bison and Highland cattle, and a web of cycling paths threads through it within easy reach of Amsterdam. Ride report Map…
Why read the book? Nick Needham wrote 2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers. It is the first book in a five-volume series on church history. This volume covers the period from the time of the apostles in the first century up to the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451. Needham explains how the early church faced persecution, false teaching, and internal…
Hiked part 7/20 of the Marskramer Path, 18.9 kilometres from Lettele to Deventer. The area between Lettele and the Hanseatic city of Deventer is a small-scale varied landscape with meadows, forest and heath. After this you walk to Deventer aan de IJssel, one of the most beautiful rivers in the Netherlands. Finally, after the medieval streets and alleys, you will enjoy the Deventer Koek. Hike…
Why read the book? Homer wrote The Odyssey around 800 BC. It is the second great epic poem from ancient Greece and the direct sequel to The Iliad. The story follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he tries to return home after the Trojan War. His journey takes ten years because he faces storms, monsters, and angry gods. He meets the Cyclops, the witch Circe, the Sirens, and the sea monster Scylla.…
Posts The following posts were written last month. Books Who Is Jesus? by R.C. Sproul Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul The Iliad by Homer Suicidal Empathy by Gad Saad Christianity Ascension Day Pentecost Essays The Wide Paved Road versus the Narrow Footpath Gems Magnifica Humanitas Hiking Marskramer Path part 03 Pelgrims Path part 03 Marskramer Path part 04 Marskramer Path part 05 Marskramer Path…
Why read the book? Gad Saad wrote Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind. He is an evolutionary psychologist who studies how bad ideas spread. In this book he explains how empathy, a useful human trait, has become dangerous when it grows too strong and points in the wrong direction. Saad shows how Western societies now favour criminals, illegal migrants, and certain identity groups over their own…
Hiked part 4/27 of the Pelgrims Path, 16.3 kilometres from Aarlanderveen to Reeuwijk. The four windmills of the Aarlanderveen four-mill complex, the only working four-mill complex in the world, drain the Drooggemaakte Polder on the Westzijde in Aarlanderveen. You might even hear a black-tailed godwit or a skylark singing by the Reeuwijkse Plassen in this bird-rich landscape. Hike report Map…
102: The use of AI is never a purely technical matter: when it enters processes that affect people’s lives, it touches on rights, opportunities, status and freedom. Important and sensitive decisions — concerning employment, credit, access to public services or even a person’s reputation — risk being fully delegated to automated systems that do not know “compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and above…
Why read the book? Homer wrote The Iliad around 800 BC. It is one of the oldest and greatest works in Western literature. The poem tells the story of the final weeks of the Trojan War. It focuses on the anger of Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior. When Agamemnon takes his prize Briseis, Achilles refuses to fight. This decision brings terrible suffering to the Greek army. The story shows fierce…