Why do so many of us get nervous when public speaking? Communication expert Lawrence Bernstein says the key to dealing with the pressure is as simple as having a casual chat. He introduces the "coffee shop test" as a way to help you overcome nerves, connect with your audience and deliver a message that truly resonates. After the talk, Modupe explains a similar approach in academia called the "Grandma test," and how public speaking can be as simple as a conversation with grandma. Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey ! Become a TED Member today at https://ted.com/join Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…
An Interview about Neurodiversity with the Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund. In this interview we discuss Rev. Lund's new book: Blessed Minds: Breaking the Silence about Neurodiversity . Neurodiversity is only now being widely understood for the unique ways it affects how we interact in all kinds--even church. Learn how to honor and celebrate neurodiversity, creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and understood. This book is your guide to fostering a church that truly reflects the love and acceptance of Christ. . Blessed Minds: Breaking the Silence about Neurodiversity is a profound exploration of how the church can embrace and honor neurodiversity. Affecting up to 20 percent of Americans, neurodiversity includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and several other conditions. Through personal stories, historical context, and theological insights, beloved author Sarah Griffith Lund unpacks the concepts of neurodiversity, mental health, and disability. This book challenges the stigma surrounding neurodivergent individuals and offers practical steps for creating inclusive and supportive faith communities. With themes of vulnerability, compassion, and justice, Blessed Minds is a call to recognize the divine nature of all minds and to foster a church environment where every individual is valued and celebrated. More about Sarah: Sarah Griffith Lund loves to partner with others to share hope and healing. She is an ordained minister and has served as pastor to churches in Brooklyn, NY, Minneapolis, MN, and New Smyrna Beach, FL. Rev. Dr. Lund served as Regional Minister in the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ and as a Vice President for Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN. She holds degrees from Trinity University (BA), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv), Rutgers University (MSW), and McCormick Theological Seminary (DMin). Rev. Dr. Lund received the Dell Award for Mental Health Education at the 30th General Synod of the UCC. She currently serves as Minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice on the national staff of the UCC and as senior pastor of First Congregational UCC of Indianapolis, IN. Rev. Dr. Lund is the author of several books and blogs at www.sarahgriffithlund.com .…
Places of Rest, A Lenten Prayer: Holy One, Help me pause just enough To notice Your invitation To step off my harried path And accept Your invitation To the rest that truly resets. Let the seat You offer Be the reminder I need To trust Your promise To lighten every weariness With Your renewing pause. Yes, grant me grace To turn aside and notice Your outstretched mercy seat Already waiting for me To discover Your holy gift Of rest that renews my body And restores my soul. Grant me courage To give up my plans Just enough to receive The gift You offer With outstretched invitations Revealed at every turn. Let this seat of grace Position my body and soul To noticed anew your creation Often overlooked in my rush To tend my anxious worry. Yes, by this of Your invitation Made known in Christ Grant me grace to trust Your necessary call to rest And through it receive The joy You yearn to offer. -DMLH, March 2025…
With the release of his new book, Yes, Love, Thank You: Meditative Prayers and Pictures to Blossom Your Heart , the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins and the Rev. Cassidy Hall sit down to talk about prayer, spiritual practices, and new entryways into our interactions with the Divine. Often this Presence gets covered over by hurry, worry, or fear. But life doesn't have to be this way. Another way is possible. The meditative prayer/poems and photographs in this collection are offered as portals to help you discover this Presence already meeting and holding you right where you are. Such titles as "Beginning Again," "Desert Joy," "Unhinged," "Spirit Fruit," and many more invite you to encounter this Holy Presence discovered in every season of life. They are grouped into three sections: Yes, Love, and Thank You. Each section offers reminders of Love's affirmation, desire, and call. They are an invitation to slow down and linger into an awareness of the Love that holds all of life, including your own. Photographs are also provided as an alternative opening to this always-present Presence. Remembering what St. Francis once shared about nature being God's first Bible, each prayer is accompanied by a photograph often captured from nature. The pictures intersect with the words of the prayers but may be used in their own right as invitations into the soul's beckoning silence. A holy blessing awaits your discovery and deepening so that your heart and life may blossom and radiate more love and beauty into the world. Yes, Love, Thank you! Click here to purchase.…
Election Time - A Prayer Holy God, Form us with loving resolve To bear Your light and hope Into a season fraught With fear and despair. Form our thoughts With Your alive Word of Love Able to fashion new creations Out of every crushing chaos. Mold our hearts Into vessels of grace Sorely needed in every time But especially needed In this present moment. Fashion our words With a grace that celebrates And builds up the beloved other Forming space for thriving Of body, mind and spirit. Strengthen our resistance To everything within and around That dares to diminish Your vision of a world made new Where everyone joyfully thrives. Transform the world Again and again and again With Your Holy Christ-love, And break down every division, Giving space for new beginnings In answer to every death Daring to claim the final word. Raise in us Your resurrection, Always offered as Holy gift Calling us forward in love For the good of the other Planting your just peace Throughout the whole creation. Yes, bless us for this High and Holy calling Revealed with Your Spirit-born Christ-light Able to dispel every night Of our misguided making. And may Your deep love form us, Heart, mind, body, and soul Into a resolution of grace Able to heal the world. -DMLH, November 2024…
Summer Stillness - A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins O Love, Saturate me With Your summer stillness Opening deep within The space unnameable Formed by You For Your mystery Of unfolding love. Pause me with scents Scattered by flowers Coming into bloom Fed by Your sun and rain. Fix my gaze On your gentle motion Of morning sun rising And landing on everything In joyful abandon Born of Your abundance. Let me rest in You Trusting Your promise Announced by birds Singing their summer song. By this of You May worry be put to rest And wonder be given space To rise in worship of You And all You make possible In Your grand unfolding Hinted at and revealed By flowers and birds And daily revolutions Of eternity’s evolution. Yes, baptize me anew With this of Your spirit And Your saturating Summer stillness… -DMLH, July 2024…
Resurrection Stretch - A Prayer, by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Blossoming God, Open the petals Of my often closed life With Your irresistible light Of goodness and grace Revealing resurrection Surprises at every turn. Stretch every petal of me Too often closed to You And Your promises Of possibilities unknown Except by consent To Your motion of Love. By this of You Reveal the beauty You plant by seed Into every living being Impossible to know In its buried beginning Yet made visible In a time envisioned By Your loving desire. Yes, stretch me open Into awe and wonder At Your blossoming beauty In every living being And even in me. Let this of Your Christ-love Pull wide the petals Of Your whole creation In response to Your light Of soaking, searching love Touching earth with eternity. And may Your hidden beauty Rise again and again today In the midst of ordinary turns Made extraordinary In the noticing, The savoring, And the thanksgiving Called forth By these amazing moments You so readily reveal. And let it cause Just enough Resurrection revelry To stop the madness And turn the world And me toward You. Amen. Music: Waking Us by Quiet Lake…
Turning Toward the Fire of Love - A Pentecost Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins O Love, Let me turn Aside in awe Of morning’s fire Rising in silences That speak a Word Recreating the world. Your Holy Presence Unnameable, yet voicing A song within uncontainable. Your “yes” of yearning Meeting hearts that burn In hurt and hope Of all that dares to rise In resurrection’s answer To every period Placed by the world's way As the final word. Yes, Love, Let me turn aside And see the fire Of the morning sky Begging me to pause Into the pulse of Pentecost’s Flame of love Uncontrollable as light Rising and landing On everything and everyone Without exception In reckless abandon. Let Your “yes” Be answered by my own Granting again and again My heart’s deepest desire Discovering the truth That You never stop Holding the whole creation Drenching it with the fire Of Your Holy Love.…
Necessary Sabbath Rest - A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God, Grant me grace To receive Your Sabbath Rest and renewal So often resisted In frenzied rush Toward inertias Of my own making. Let breathing space Awaken me to Your breath Given as gift in every moment For a soul sustenance Often taken for granted Yet bearing the miracle of life Into my body, mind and spirit. Let sacred pause still me Into awe and wonder At mysteries little and large Too often taken for granted By a heart and mind overfull With distractions dividing My attention at every turn. Settle me enough To notice Your precious pulse Pressing Your life through me And in others around me Permeating Your whole creation Already singing a song of praise If only I will stop and listen To birdsong of early spring. Yes, let your Sabbath gift Bear me up in light and love And offer rest from my restlessness In discovery of Your resurrection Already bearing its eternal motion In this body of me and the world. Here…now…yes…thank you, Love. Amen. Music: A Kind Word by Moments…
The following sermon "The Call of Christ to be Woke" was preached by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins at the MLK Day Worship Celebration at Woodland Christian Disciples of Christ in Columbus, Ohio on January 15, 2024. The text for the sermon was Ephesians 5:1-2 and 6-17.
In this episode, we hear the Conference Minister Address from the 2023 Heartland Conference Annual Gathering. The Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins shares about the necessary ligamental life of the church in his heart-to-heart reflection with the Heartland Conference. To view this video or other moments from this year's Annual Gathering, go to our YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/@HeartlandConference/streams…
United and Uniting - A Prayer for the United Church of Christ and the World written and read by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins O Love, Form us ever anew United and uniting Bearing a vision larger Than we can imagine. Form the puzzling Predicaments of our day Into something precious And beautiful and good. Yes, take all that is scattered Embracing every fragment And fashion something new Beyond what is known In a world full of hurt Yearning for something more That heals, renews, and blesses. Let no pressure Of present predicaments Often repeatedly rehearsed Be greater than the grace You pour out to cleanse. Ready us for new creations Even now beginning to rise Through Your connective strength Otherwise thought impossible Save for Your unrelenting love. Yes, persistent One Awaken us to the truth Of being already joined By You for a joy unbelievable Except as we entrust our lives To You who always holds Everyone and everything In a marvelous mystery Not of our making Yet urging our consent. O Love, Form and re-form our hearts For nothing less than this Of Your unifying desire To rise ever anew in us In some precious proclamation Of what You make possible When Your people anywhere Turn toward each other In love, for love, by love And say yes again to You, O Love. Let this be the good news Proclaimed through our life Formed by Your uniting To be united with others For the healing of the world, That Your joy may rise Everywhere for everyone. Amen. Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Intro and Outro Music by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Music with prayer, Letting Go, by Moments…
Temple Body - A Prayer written and read by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins O Love, Bless this temple body Given as gift by You Enlivened by Your Spirit For worship and work In thanks and praise Of all You make possible. Form in me a reverence For care of this gift Of body given by You For the purposes of love To build Your justice joy For the full flourishing Of everybody’s body. Bless my ordinary eating With your Holy Spirit And awaken me To Your precious presence Bearing Your life-giving Energy of eternity Here and now. Grant me grace To savor the sacramental sip Of Your life-giving water Forming and reforming Each cell of the universe Of universes you form In every living body. Quiet my mind and heart Enough to hear Your pulse Bearing Your life large In this little body of me. Yes, Love, Bless this temple body That I may walk and work Speak and keep silence And reverence this gift Formed by You For reverencing You In every other body Also formed by You. Amen. Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Intro and Outro Music by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins…
Walking Holy Week’s Road, A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God, Lead me step by step On this Holy Week road And form Your will and way In answer to the weariness And worry of the world So easily residing in my soul. Let the same sustaining spirit You poured into Christ Jesus Be poured ever anew into me Answering every resistance Begging me to distraction From Your gracious gift Of a life fully alive Despite twists and turns Formed by the world And also by me. Yes, Love, Walk me into this week In reverent, holy wonder Revealing Your mysteries Easily overlooked or ignored In rush to lesser things Urging a numbness Of heart and mind and soul. Moment by moment Hour by hour Day by day Etch Your Holy story Anew in my heart and mind Answering every sorrow And anguish of the world With just enough light To lead me on Your path Toward a rising unimaginable Except by You who forms The impossible into the probable. Let this motion of You Renew not only me But Your whole creation Whom You love into life That Your wholeness and fullness May emerge ever anew In the least likely of places In the most difficult circumstances Using people often overlooked By the powers and principalities Of a world practiced in resistance To Your Holy motion Of resurrection renewal. O Love, Walk me into this week Transforming every cross Of the world’s making From death into Life Giving rise to something Holy Beautiful, loving and good That Your joy may finally Find its way into the heart Of your very human family. Yes, Love, Sustain me on this walk Down Your Holy Week road Forming my little love With Your large Love Into some sacred cross Of Your Holy intersection. Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Intro and Outro Music by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins…
Oh Snap! A Prayer of Confession, by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God, O snap! Said too much. O snap! Said too little. O snap! Got distracted O snap! Ate too much. O snap! Too little sleep. O snap! Unexpected turn. O snap! Cut off. O snap! Worry day. O snap! Plans changed. O snap! Tired of waiting. O snap! Weary of winter O snap! Lost my voice. O snap! Came undone. O Love, Restring my life For some new song Tuned with grace by You. (And if you can, Make it just a little bit Snappy! ) Thanks for listening. Amen. Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Intro and Outro Music by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Music with prayer, Forever and a Day by ltebloomr…
Transcript: Everyday Thanksgivings, A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God, For the gift of a new day I give You thanks For breath of body I give You thanks For silence of soul I give You thanks For work that matters I give You thanks For blessed memories I give You thanks For little delights I give You thanks For a family of love I give You thanks For the gift of difference I give You thanks For a body to inhabit I give You thanks For Your present presence I give You thanks For the tear that tugs I give You thanks For the radiant smile I give you thanks For questions of youth I give you thanks For wisdom's weight I give You thanks For your Eternal embrace I give You thanks O Love, May nothing of this day Pass before me Without thanks And praise of You. -November 2022, DMLH…
Beginning Again An Advent Prayer Loving God, Thank-you for the gift Of beginning again When all seems lost Or weariness wears down The last inch of hope. Yes, turn the page Of over-rehearsed despair Or dread of dullness Formed by too much Of just about everything. Form instead Your promise When night’s weight Seems too heavy for Dawn’s readiness to rise In surprises unlikely To be noticed by the world Yet formed by You As the beginning place Of Your grand renewal, Starting as one small baby Still in formation Not yet ready to be born But quickening the senses With miraculous movement. Yes, form this advent Of Your grand reversal In me as I wait in wonder At what You will readily reveal In this long season Of late dawn and early dusk. Let me savor the beauty Of what I do not know Urging me to wait When all around me The world rushes In frenzy of the overfull, The too much and the too soon. Still me into the gift You so yearn to give, Of silence rising From deep within Touching everything With Your cosmic creation Daring to form a new world Unknown by the old one Satisfied with a hypnosis Of over-rehearsed hopelessness. Yes, grant me An Advent awakening Muting every resistance And releasing a new song Of thanks for Your grand gift Of beginning again… Here…now…yes…thank-you. -November 2022, DMLH…
The Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., Installation Service Preacher: The Reverend Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) US and Canada. He serves as executive director of the Columbus-based Ohio Council of Churches. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Sullivan is an internationally-known leader, ecumenist, preacher, justice advocate, and death penalty abolitionist. In recognition of his work to stop executions, Dr. Sullivan was given the 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Social Justice Award by Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission and the 2019 Humanitarian Award from the Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center of Findlay, OH. In 2018 he received the African American Liberation Award from the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio University; a Master of Divinity degree from Lexington Theological Seminary; a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary (Dayton); and an honorary doctorate from Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia. Dr. Sullivan is board president of Journey of Hope… From Violence to Healing and co-president of the Disciples Justice Action Network. He is an advisory board member of Catholic Mobilizing Network, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, OH, Death Penalty Action, Restorative Justice International, and the US Global Leadership Council. Dr. Sullivan is immediate past board chair of Ohioans to Stop Executions, and a former steering committee member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. He holds life memberships in the NAACP and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and is a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Academy of Homiletics.…
During the 2022 Heartland Conference (UCC) Annual Gathering, we had the joy of hearing from Rev. Joanna D'Agostino in an Opening Worship Sermon. The Rev. Joanna D’Agostino has been the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Congregational Church since June 2018. Joanna has a passion for Restorative Justice, which she learned as a Restorative Justice facilitator in Wisconsin state correctional institutions. Now, she strives to weave Restorative Practices into all areas of leadership, community organizing, and relationship development. Rev. D’Agostino also prioritizes advocacy for and with the LGBTQ+ community, the destigmatization of mental healthcare, support for the UCC’s Council for Health and Human Services Ministries (CHHSM), and involvement in criminal justice reform initiatives of Greater Cleveland Congregations. She received her Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and a B.A. in creative writing and French language from Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. She was ordained by the Living Water Association of the UCC in 2012. Joanna now serves on the LWA Council and the Strategy Team of Greater Cleveland Congregations. Joanna and her husband have three children, Evelyn, Amos, and Suzette, plus the steady presence of neighborhood children and friends. They also have a pit bull mutt, three cats, and a bearded dragon. Outside of ministry, Joanna’s interests include art, animals, home renovation, and chatting on the porch.…
This brand new episode features an introduction from Communications Director, Cassidy Hall, who shares a brief overview of Annual Gathering dates and deadlines. She reminds us this year's Annual Gathering is September 22-23 at Westerville UCC and the deadline to register is Monday, September 19th at 5:00 EST! Then we hear a message from others who will be in attendance including the Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., Disaster Ministries Coordinator Kevin Gehres, and Rev. Beth Gedert, the Chair of this year's Annual Gathering Planning Team!…
Prayer: Spirit Fruit with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God, ripen me… Grant me grace to love That Your pulse may enliven me. Grant me your joining joy, Answering the fear of the world With your radiant Spirit. Grant me Your peace to share In a world aching to rest From fractious fighting. Grant me Your patience Grounding my soul in grace That I may offer the same to others. Grant me Your kindness For every rough edge revealed In myself and all your beloved. Grant me a generous Spirit Trusting Your resource is enough For the gift of this day You give. Grant me a flood of faithfulness Filling my heart with resolve To trust Your power in all things. Grant me Your gentleness For every hard thing Daring to evoke anger or fear. Grant me self-control Freeing me from the prison I so easily construct With perpetual distractions Covering over the gifts You yearn to give. Yes, Love, Grant me grace to grow In this sustaining Spirit That is You in all things Seen and unseen. And let it be More than enough For today.…
يقوم برنامج مشغل أف أم بمسح الويب للحصول على بودكاست عالية الجودة لتستمتع بها الآن. إنه أفضل تطبيق بودكاست ويعمل على أجهزة اندرويد والأيفون والويب. قم بالتسجيل لمزامنة الاشتراكات عبر الأجهزة.