Nate Harper

Nate Harper and Peter Moore, Italy

I met Peter in 2006 as a Pittsburgh Fellow. Each Friday he lectured us from “Disarming the Secular Gods” and “A Church to Believe In”, two of his books that I found to be highly accessible and exciting fodder for discussion and learning. At that point, I did not realize how big of an intellectual itch there was within me. But he scratched it, and that was the start of what became for me a friendship of a lifetime.

In subsequent years Peter had a bucket list that he wanted to check off. Those items included the revisiting of places in the world that he went to as a young man. As we all know, he was very “spry” for his age (if you played tennis with him, you would know this well). But he knew that it would be wiser, and likely more enjoyable, to travel with someone who would have his back should he run into trouble somehow. So I became his sherpa, and together we traveled to many wonderful places.

Peter and I rode scooters through winding farm roads in Rhodes and Tuscany, explored the Valley of the Kings burial chambers in upper Egypt, gazed at the foot of Rembrandt’s “Prodigal Son” in the Hermitage Museum, and worshiped the Lord in many wonderful medieval churches in Europe including St Peters Basilica in Rome. What a beautiful gift it was to see the world with him. Though he was a walking encyclopedia, he was always a curious man. That inquisitiveness is likely what lead him to take the brave step of visiting the country of Yemen while I was living there. I’ll never forget the first day of that trip. He was among a group of 4 who arrived, dropped their bags off at a hotel, and quickly began a scavenger hunt through the 2500 year old ancient part of Sana’a. The Old City is an absolute labyrinth of winding and directionless streets. Armed only with cryptic clues from “yours truly”, and without any Arabic language capacity (or a translator), he made his way to different places and engaged in exciting cultural activities. What a hoot it was to see him barter with the money exchangers (none of whom spoke English), ask for directions, and use his charm to find his way through that world.

In this setting Peter was completely out of his element. He wasn’t at the yacht club anymore! But he was always braver than most of us. Later in the evening, as he ate dinner on the carpeted floor of my starlit rooftop balcony with 20 young Yemeni men, he began to understand why God gave me a heart of love for them. The unfamiliar became comprehendible to him, and the rubric of the “Imago Dei” in them helped him understand just a bit more how precious and important they were in God’s eyes. There were many other memorable moments on that trip including a boat trip at night in pirate infested waters. You’ll have to ask me about that in person (and it will cost you a beer). But that dinner, in my home, with my friends, was one of the most special moments I

shared with him.
Concerning friendship, CS Lewis says,

In friendship... we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another... the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at the first meeting - any of these changes might have kept us apart.

But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret mater of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for the other.” The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.

Peter was just that for me... an amazing, generous, humble, and fun friend. I’m going to miss our conversations, adventures, and his presence in general. But I can confidently say that the parts of me that he shaped the most were ultimately the fingers of Christ at work. And in that light, our friendship will continue for eternity.

— Nate Harper