Religion and Spirituality Archives

Listen to the Music

By Dave Walker | September 4, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”

— Psalm 27:13–14 (NASB)

Why I Wrote Listen to the Music

For most of my life, I have worked in operating theatres, intensive care units, and some of the world’s most demanding medical environments. Along the way, I have witnessed intense suffering. I have seen lives changed in an instant from injury or disease, families facing unimaginable decisions, and people standing at the edge of uncertainty.

Yet alongside the pain, I have also watched individuals endure loss, uncertainty, and suffering while holding onto a belief that there is something greater than what they could see in that moment. In many instances, I have been privileged to help them hold onto a God of love despite the trials.

I wrote Listen to the Music because I believe stories have the power to reach places that explanations often cannot. A story can make us pause, challenge our assumptions, awaken compassion, stir forgotten memories — perhaps even help us hear God’s voice in a new way.

These stories are, in many ways, a reflection of what I have witnessed throughout my life: the reality of human suffering, the complexity of faith, and the quiet, persistent presence of God—even in the moments when He seems silent.

What You Will Find Inside

Listen to the Music is a collection of true Christian short stories shaped by real experiences, encounters with people from different cultures, and a deep conviction that God is present in every part of life.

Whether you are new to faith, wrestling with difficult questions, or have walked with Christ for many years, these stories invite you to pause and reflect on your own journey.

Within these pages, you will encounter people whose lives reveal extraordinary courage, sacrifice, heartbreak, and faith.

You will meet Father Damien in “Plundering a Hell on Earth,” a powerful account of sacrificial love and compassion in the face of overwhelming human suffering.

You will be challenged to consider eternal truths in “I Did It My Way,” a story that invites reflection on the choices we make and the paths we follow.

You will encounter the devastating consequences of conflict in “Scorched Earth, Seared Soul,” where the tragedy and senselessness of war leave a lasting mark on both the land and the human heart.

And in “To Mary, and Mary,” you will discover a tender and deeply moving story of love, humanity, and connection.

Each story stands on its own, yet together they form something larger: a collection of moments that invite readers to think deeply, feel honestly, and look again for the presence of God in both the extraordinary and the ordinary.

These are not simply stories meant to entertain. They are stories intended to stay with you.

A Perspective Shaped by Life and Faith

As a physician, I have had the privilege of serving in South Africa, Namibia, China, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East. These experiences have taken me across cultures, communities, and circumstances that have profoundly shaped the way I see the world.

I have seen extraordinary resilience despite devastating suffering. I have seen how fragile life can be, but also how remarkably strong the human spirit can become when sustained by hope.

Although my medical background has given me a close view of the realities of pain, loss, and human vulnerability, my Christian faith has given me a different lens through which to understand those experiences. That combination shapes the stories in Listen to the Music.

They do not attempt to offer easy answers to life’s difficult questions. They acknowledge the reality of pain while holding onto the possibility of hope. Faith does not remove every struggle, but it gives us something to hold onto as we walk through them.

The stories, then are deeply human, spiritually reflective, and grounded in the realities of life.

What Readers Are Saying:

One reader described the experience this way:

“The best accolade I can give is that it leads you to search your own heart and that of the Lord.”

Another reader wrote:

“A real treasure trove of vignettes, little polished gems that keep me digging for more. I wept on several occasions at the beauty of your language and the emotions you evoked.”

These responses capture something of what I hoped the book might accomplish — not simply to provide answers, but to encourage reflection, inviting readers to search their own hearts. And perhaps, in doing so, to listen more carefully for the voice of God.

Why This Book Matters Now

We live in a world filled with noise.

There are endless voices competing for our attention, voices of fear, anger, distractions and uncertainty. For many people, the future can often feel uncertain, and anxiety is overwhelming.

With all this noise, it can be difficult to listen, to be still, to trust.

Yet Scripture reminds us that God’s presence does not depend on our circumstances, nor on our seasons of waiting. Sometimes His music is loud and unmistakable. Sometimes it is quiet. Sometimes, we must wait patiently before we can hear it again.

Listen to the Music is an invitation to pause amid the noise and pay attention to Him, to the people around us and to His involvement in it all. It is a reminder that even when we cannot understand the entire melody, we may still trust the One who is composing it.

Finally

Life does not always unfold according to our plans. There are moments when faith feels effortless, and others when waiting becomes one of the greatest tests of all.

But even in the waiting, God is at work.

And even when we cannot yet understand the melody, we can trust the One who holds the music.

May you find strength when the journey feels difficult.

May you find courage when the future feels uncertain.

May you learn to wait with hope.

And may you continue to believe, as the Psalmist says in psalm 27, that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Blessings,

Dave Walker, MD

Author of Listen to the Music

About the Author
Dave Walker, MD is a physician whose medical career has taken him into operating theatres, intensive care units, and challenging medical environments across several parts of the world.
Having served in South Africa, Namibia, China, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, his experiencesh ave provided him with a unique perspective on human suffering, resilience, faith, and hope.
He now lives in Howick, South Africa, with his wife, Dorelle.

Learn more:
Dave Walker’s Websitehttps://www.scribewalker.com/
Explore his books:
Dave Walker on Amazonhttps://amazon.com/author/dave_walker_md

The Fourth Dimension

By Dave Walker | August 24, 2026 | Comments 0 Comment

We live in a three dimensional world.

Let’s imagine what it would be like in a one dimensional one, taking a brick as an example:

All we would perceive in a one-dimensional world would be a series of lines. We would perceive one going in a certain direction, another going in another direction, and others also in diverse directions. We would, however, not see them in relation to one another; we’d just see the lines. To see them in relation to one another, we’d have to move into a two-dimensional world. Then we’d see the lines on the top of the brick forming an area. Likewise with those forming the sides and the bottom. They would be a series of areas, but we would not perceive their relationship to one another. To perceive that, we’d need to move into the third dimension. Now, at last, we’d see that the areas are related and form an object. We’d see the brick.

However, what if we keep going with this argument? What if there’s a fourth dimension, where objects relating to one another form another entity?

We get hints of this in our world. The spectacular murmuration of swallows as they form ever-changing shapes, the shoals of fish that also form twisting, turning entities as, like the swallows’ murmuration, seem to be controlled by a greater mind. Even two little birds side by side on a branch stirs something within us as we see something more than two separate entities, and a husband and wife are perceived in a way, as an entity. When we see one alone, our natural question is, where is the other one?

I once worked with a cameraman who filmed the Soweto riots. He spoke of what a frightening experience it was, saying, “That mob seemed to take on the form of a massive beast moving on its own accord.” Perhaps he was right.

Taking this into our Christian walk helps us to see the Bible’s talk of the body of Christ not as a metaphor, but as a deep reality. We are an entity in the fourth dimension with Christ being part of that entity as the head, the controller, just as there is something controlling the murmuration of the swallows or the shoal of fish.

Perhaps that is how we could see the Trinity: Three persons in relation to one another forming another entity — God — thoroughly intertwined, yet individuals in their own right. It would help us get over trying to explain them in three-dimensional terms like ice, water and water vapour or eggshell, white and yoke, which are totally inadequate.

It also might give us an alternative explanation of the man of lawlessness described in 2 Thessalonians. Perhaps, because of our being locked into a three-dimensional world, he’s described as a man, but what if a four-dimensional entity is being described? What if it is a group of utterly lawless people who rebel against God and His ways? Does that sound like the path we are on today?

Easter Poetry

By Dave Walker | March 19, 2024 | Comments 0 Comment

Gazing at the wonder of the Cross

As we approach the most glorious time in the Christian’s calendar, I’ll post some poems I have written on the subject. The first is in response to the Word that tells us Jesus still bears the wounds in His body (He showed them to the disciples when He appeared to them). The second is because we are told He is constantly interceding for us. I hope you enjoy it.

HOLY WOUNDS

Oh, to think that I, with all my stains of darkness

Could stand before a God of white-hot holiness

And not be burned.

What holy wounds that gain for me

An entrance to the King!

For Christ in all his glory, stays injured still for me

His hands and feet, though brilliant bright

Stay pierced and raw through all my sin

And plead each day my cause.

For as I sin, and blot my soul, and then repentant come

His Father from His awesome throne

Looks down and sees his Son.

He sees His Son take on my guilt and then it’s penalty

He looks at me through holy wounds

And says, “My son, you’re free.”

I’m free indeed and yet not free.

I’m tethered by a bond so strong

That holds me ever in his arms.

For how could I ignore a love so great

And go my selfish way?

Those holy wounds produce in me

The prayer spoke in Gethsemane

“Let not my will, but Thine be done.”

Come, live through me, beloved Son.

Cry, the Beloved country

By Dave Walker | February 5, 2024 | Comments 6 comments

Weeping for Israel

I have a burning question: When the prophets such as Jeremiah, Isaiah and many of the minor prophets spoke harshly against the rulers of Israel and Judah, were they being anti-Semitic? Were they not crying out to a country they loved, as a parent cries out to a beloved child whom you can see is leading a destructive lifestyle? So, when we criticise Israel, are we being anti-Semitic and pro-Islam?

As I read the history of Israel and Judah in the Old Testament, it follows a (tragic) pattern.

God blesses His people (rescues them from Pharoah, gives them their own land, gives them a godly judge, in Samuel)
They enjoy the blessing for a while, and then turn their backs on God’s laws and follow other gods.
God warns them through the prophets, but they seldom listen (with a few exceptions).
God judges them and they suffer (often at the hands of their enemies.)
They cry out to God.
God rescues them and they live in His blessing for a while.
Then they revert to godless ways. (Baal and Molech worship, with child sacrifice, bloodshed, immoral behaviour, corruption, reliance on alliances with their pagan neighbours, instead of on God.)
He warns them of their wayward ways and urges them to change and come back to Him, but they ignore Him.
God judges them and they suffer (often at the hands of their enemies.)
They cry out to God.
God rescues them and they live in His blessing for a while, and then backslide once more

And so the cycle continues

But God always preserves a godly remnant. The theme of a faithful remnant pervades all Old Testament writing.

So, here’s my question. Can we not warn Israel of severe deviations from God’s ways without being labelled anti-Semitic? Or being accused of being pro-Islam?

Well, I have a great love for Israel, but let’s see if history is not repeating itself for God’s people once again.

God blessed them by giving them their land back.
He rescued them supernaturally and spectacularly from their enemies who had surrounded them on all sides.

But:

They allowed child sacrifice. Since legalising abortion, over 800,000 babies have been torn from their mothers’ wombs in Israel.
They recognise same sex marriages. The Bible is clear on God’s view of sexual behaviour between same sexes.
They have treated the alien with oppression and aggression, contrary to God’s instructions on how they should be treated (remembering that they were slaves in Egypt before God rescued them.) I have a good friend who worked in a Gaza hospital for the last decade and their inhumane treatment of the Palestinians is long-standing.
Despite God’s demonstration of how He can rescue them, as He did, miraculously, at the formation of their state, they have turned to America for aid rather than to God (as their ancestors turned to Egypt and were chastised strongly by God (Isaiah 30:1-7)).

I agonise over the behaviour of Israel. They should be a light to the Gentiles (unbelievers) showing the nature of the God whose people they are. Should we, as Christians unequivocally support them, without criticising them for the atrocities that are occurring, which is causing them to be pariahs, and generating support for their enemies? (Criticism is not the same as cursing. It is heartfelt concern for them and for the God whose they are.)

May I suggest that we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Not a peace merely from the cessation of hostilities, but that which comes from the Prince of Peace. The peace that comes from obedience and subservience to the God who formed this nation to be a light to the Gentiles and to point the way to a loving, caring God of grace and mercy.

Let’s pray for the remnant God has preserved for Himself, as He did in Elijah’s time, that their voice will be heard, that Elijahs will arise to point the people back to God’s way and to repentance. Instead of unequivocal support for Israel, let’s agonise over her failures and be prepared to expose them.

And let us separate the issue of disobedience on Israel’s part from support for Hamas. We know Islam is a bellicose religion opposed to Christianity. Their tactics are the tactics of the ‘ruler of the kingdom of the air’. That should not surprise us. Criticism of Israel does not correlate into support for Hamas. Unfortunately, though, the harsh treatment and untold tragedies will surely cause more and more Palestinians to direct the anger their grief causes towards the Israelis. The weapons of our warfare should be different, as should those of the Israelis.

Impartation

By Dave Walker | October 22, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

The following is a devotional companion to God in the ICU:

Chapter Two

Impartation

Quote from God in the ICU:

“History was being made. The heart, mystically associated from the beginning of time with the very essence of a person, was being given as a gift of life to a dying man. Would it work? Was it, after all, only a beautiful, intricate pump?”

————- o ————

Psalm 139: “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

There was a video doing the rounds a while ago of the bereaved members of a family trying to placate a baby whose parents had been killed, leaving it orphaned. The child was crying hysterically as it was passed from person to person. No-one could pacify it. Eventually it was passed to a man standing by. As he took the infant, it gave a little gurgle, settled comfortably in his arms, and went to sleep.

Then the astounding caption spread across the bottom of the screen: “THIS MAN RECEIVED THE HEART OF THE BABY’S MOTHER IN A HEART TRANSPLANT.”

In a way we cannot understand, something of the mother was imparted to the baby through her heart in the chest of a stranger.

Contrary to what we have been taught for decades, the heart is not just a beautiful, intricate pump, as I describe in God in the ICU. It has approximately 40,000 nerve cells that are just like those in the brain, and these are connected to the brain in a nerve bundle, where 80% of the nerves carry messages from heart to brain and only 20% from brain to heart. The heart has its own minibrain, which scientists now call ‘the heart brain.’ It appears that somehow the mother’s heart brain was able to placate her baby.

What is the point of this story? It’s an introduction into the subject of impartation. You are far more fearfully and wonderfully made than you imagine or that the scientists have yet discovered.

God has implanted in your very makeup characteristics which are unique to you — not just in your personality, but in every part of you — even in your heart. And, in ways we do not fully understand, something of you can be imparted to others. There is something about your presence with another that is far more impactful than your image and voice on a TV or cell phone screen.

When I was teaching my junior medical staff, I would say, “If the sister in ICU phones you with a problem, don’t try to fix in on the phone. Go there! Something about being present at the bedside gives you a connection with the patient and an understanding of the problem that you will not get from the end of a telephone.”

The Bible has many examples of impartation. In Romans1:11, Paul writes: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.” And in many instances the apostles laid hands on others as a means of impartation. In Acts 19:2 we read of Paul’s meeting with Ephesian believers: “(He) asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

After explaining what the difference was between John’s baptism and baptism into the name of Jesus, He laid hands on them “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19:6)

It is a natural thing for us, in comforting someone in distress to touch them. God has put in us an instinctive knowledge that there is something imparted in touch.

Even without touch, think about your own mood when you are in the company of a depressed person. Don’t you feel a heaviness in your spirit? And what about when you are with a group of people who are complaining. Is there not a temptation to join in?

Now, lets apply that to the church. Lockdown has changed the way many of us have had to do church. The only way has been to access a service and hear a sermon online. In many ways it has made life so much easier. You can watch when you like, in your pyjamas and slippers if you so desire. You can flip to your favourite preacher at the touch of a remote. Do not be deceived, however. God has designed you to impart what He has placed in you to others and to receive what He has put in them. You can only do that by your presence. You must be present for the phenomenon of impartation to take place.

Hebrews 10:25 says, “And let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see Christ’s return approaching.” This is a strong word for today. There are many signs that God is preparing His church for the return of Jesus. The church the writer to the Hebrews addressed was suffering intense persecution. There would be much more incentive than we have for them to have stayed safe and remained at home, but the writer urges them to keep meeting, because he knew how important it was for them to impart to one another what God had put within them. How important it is for us to take Paul’s words to heart today.

Further Bible reading:

Acts 2:42-44

Mark 1:40-41

2 Tim. 5:22

For discussion:

After the isolation of Covid, have you returned to your church or have you become comfortable staying at home and watching online?