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. Rebecca spent many years in Northern Ireland devoted to human rights issues, and I know her as a member of the Corrymeela Community. I was so grateful that in the dark winter days (on this side of the world anyway), she offered a Zoom talk which she entitled “The Hope Project.” In this talk she shared her reflections on the poignant question: how do we pay attention without losing hope? I was so taken with her question, and her findings, and of course I was drawn when she mentioned the Psalms as a part of her journey. I asked her if she would talk with me on this podcast about her Hope Project and its connection to the Psalms, which we were able to do just after Easter. Since then, as wave after wave of bad news rolls in, it’s clear that her message is as timely as ever, and essential for our wellbeing as we take in and respond to horrific news on a daily basis.
In our conversation, we talk about the power of the Psalms to reach across time and culture, about images of hope as bridge and spark and lifeline, about how psychological first aid might support us in times of distress, and how the old spiritual traditions of vocation and intercession can help us find the small thing that is ours to do in this hurting world.
If you’d like to hear Rebecca Dudley’s original talk on The Hope Project, you’ll find the link here – there is so much there, especially if you resonate with this question of how we pay attention without losing hope.
So whatever it is that brought you here, I’m glad you’re with us.
Find the podcast on the Psalms for the Spirit website or subscribe on Apple, Google or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
More about Rebecca:
The Rev. Dr. Rebecca Dudley is a member of the Corrymeela community speaking in a personal capacity for this podcast. In her day job, she is the International Humanitarian Law Advisor to New Zealand Red Cross, where she has been since 2016. She works on the legal frameworks that can protect vulnerable people in humanitarian emergencies; human rights, humanitarian and environmental law. Between 2001 and 2015 she worked on issues of human rights and transitional justice and sexual and gender based violence in Northern Ireland. Prior to that she worked for many years for Christian Aid in London. She has a BA in History from Yale (1983), an MDiv from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (1991), an LLM (2008) and a PhD in international law from Queens University Belfast (2015). She is based on the North Island of New Zealand in Wellington. Rebecca was ordained in 1991 the Presbyterian Church USA, and has also been in good standing in the United Reformed Church in England and Wales, and the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, and is active in her local church in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NZ.
FEATURED MUSIC
Come, Spirit, Come (Psalm 144)
You're the Hope (forthcoming album)
You can find our published scores, CDs and mp3s through GIA Music
Ep. 20 How Do We Pay Attention and Not Lose Hope? with Rebecca Dudley