Psalms for the Spirit

TODAY'S GUEST is Munther Isaac - Palestinian theologian, Lutheran minister, author and academic. This holy week many of us will be thinking of the holy land as we journey towards Easter, and in this conversation we listen to a voice we don't often hear – the voice of a Palestinian Christian, reflecting here on the role of the Psalms in his own life and the affinity his community has for the Psalms...

Today’s guest is Dr Avivah Zornberg, renowned Torah scholar, teacher and speaker based in Jerusalem. I first became aware Dr. Zornberg’s work when I heard a lecture she delivered in Belfast, and I was immediately mesmerized by her deep insights into Hebrew scripture – her studies are based on Midrash, literature, psychoanalysis and philosophy. She really brought Moses and other Biblical figures to...

Today's guest is Sunder John Boopalan, a professor specializing in political theology and ethics, with a personal focus on Dalit theology and social justice. Along the same lines as the prominent book "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson, John has written a powerful book called "Memory, Grief and Agency," in which he highlights the marginalization of the Dalit community in India - those who are considered...

[REVISITED] Today’s guest is Peace Lee – spiritual director, preacher, and educator on decolonial and feminist perspectives. In this conversation, we reconnect over our mutual love for the Psalms: how they can be imprinted on our hearts and come to us when we need them most, how we can read them afresh as we consider new language for them, the importance of lament in finding healing and wholeness,...

FOR OUR FIRST EPISODE OF SEASON THREE, TODAY'S GUEST is Martin Tel , Director of Music at Princeton Theological Seminary. In his role at the seminary, he directs the choirs, plans and leads music in daily worship, and lectures in the area of church music. Martin was senior editor of the impressive musical compilation “Psalms for All Seasons,” in which he highlights the amazing breadth of genres in...

FOR OUR FINAL EPISODE OF SEASON TWO, TODAY'S GUEST is Rebecca Dudley – ordained minister and advisor with the New Zealand Red Cross on legal frameworks protecting people in humanitarian emergencies, speaking in a personal capacity for this podcast. Here, we discuss her "Hope Project,” in which she explores the question: how do we pay attention without losing hope? As wave after wave of bad news ro...

Today’s guest is Ruth Patterson – Presbyterian minister, writer, retreat leader - recognized internationally for her deep spiritual insight and her gently powerful work in peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. The organisation she founded and led for 30 years, “Restoration Ministries,” brings people together across community divides in Ireland around their shared spirituality, and draws on...

For some, Advent is a time of grief and loss. Today’s guest is John Bell – hymnwriter, author, and broadcaster and a guiding light from the Iona Community as he has for decades created resources for the global church in music, worship and spirituality, including his recent book Living with the Psalms. In this conversation we talk about how the Psalms – much like the incarnation we celebrate in thi...

Today’s guest is Denise Bradley, an expert in trauma theory who has spent decades helping victims of violence find healing. I know Denise from her current work with Corrymeela in which she works with marginalized groups, particularly refugee and asylum seekers in Northern Ireland, and I wanted to learn more from Denise about how the theory of trauma relates to the Psalms. In this conversation we t...

Today’s guest is Brother Thierry, a French Benedictine monk who is based at the Holy Cross Monastery in Northern Ireland. I was delighted when Bro. Thierry agreed to talk with me about the Benedictine rhythm of prayer, which includes a swift cycle of daily Psalm singing. In this conversation, we talk about finding happiness in a life of prayer, about being called to pray when others can’t, about h...

Today’s guest is Karen Campbell, minister and musician, originally from Northern Ireland and currently based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Karen and I met first when we were both serving Presbyterian churches in the Belfast area, but our friendship has extended into our shared love of music, the Psalms, and spirituality – as well as some fun times and good laughs along the way. Here, Karen shares abo...

Today’s guest is Kate Wiebe, founder of the https://www.ictg.org (Institute for Collective Trauma and Growth). We both entered seminary only days after 9/11, an event that influenced many of us as we began our theological studies not far away from the areas that had been traumatized by those events. It wasn’t until years after we’d graduated that I found out that she’d gone on to do doctoral work...

Today’s guest is Eric Sarwar, a minister, musician and academic, from Pakistan and currently based in California. I first met Eric many years ago when he was visiting Northern Ireland, and I remember my kids and I dancing around the kitchen to some of the music he left behind for us to listen to. A few years later, Eric and I met again at a conference in the States, and shared music across our tra...

Today’s guest is Erin Hayes-Cook, a Presbyterian minister based in Rahway, New Jersey – a short commute away from New York City. I’ve known Erin for about two decades now, and I was interested to get back in touch to hear about some of her current work around building resilience in her congregation’s spiritual lives as well as the broader community during these wearying times. In this conversation...

Today’s guest is Pádraig Swan, trained in the Jesuit tradition and serving as the Director of Faith and Service Programmes at Belvedere College in Dublin, Ireland. Pádraig and I would usually get into interesting conversations about spirituality while our families are visiting each other – kids racing around the room or climbing on us while we talked, amid good food and cups of coffee and tea. Not...

Today's guest is Brian Hehn, the Director of https://congregationalsong.org/ (The Center for Congregational Song) with the Hymn Society in the United States and Canda. He is an accomplished song leader and musician, and has a huge heart for getting people to sing together. Here, he reflects on the power of singing to transform us into better people, and how not singing together through COVID has b...

Today's guest is Sara Cook – a social worker who has worked in conflict response, peacebuilding and mediation in Northern Ireland and internationally for the past two decades. Sara offers trainings in the Community Resiliency Model through the Trauma Resource Institute, and here, she draws connections between resilience, spirituality and the psalms, providing practical tools to balance the adversi...

Today's guest is Rev. Dr. Amy Ruth Schacht – a Presbyterian Church USA minister who has served in Laurel, MD for the past 20 years. Amy has studied neuroscience and its connection to the life of faith. Trigger warning: Amy briefly mentions the topic of sexual abuse by members of the clergy. Amy talks about a book that was influential to her: The Archaeology of the Mind, by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy B...