Prayers and Ponderings
Ponderings: An Interview about Neurodiversity with the Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund
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 c...
Prayer: Places of Rest, a Lenten Prayer with Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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...
To Be Seen: A Conversation with Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins, Rev. Dr. Chad Abbott, and Rev. Cassidy Hall
Yes, Love, Thank You: An interview with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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. S...
Prayer: Election Time, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 wor...
Prayer: Summer Stillness, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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
...Prayer: Resurrection Stretch, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 beau...
A Pentecost Prayer: Turning Toward the Fire of Love, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 resurrect...
Prayer: Necessary Sabbath Rest, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 a...
Sermon: The Call of Christ to be Woke, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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.
Prayer: Sorting and Sifting, with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
Pondering: The Ligamental Life, Heart to Heart with The Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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
Prayer: United and Uniting – A Prayer for the United Church of Christ and the World with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 wha...
Prayer: Temple Body with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 flourish...
Pondering: Dave's Top 10 Touchpoints for Launching with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
Prayer: Walking Holy Week’s Road with 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<...
Prayer: Oh Snap! A Prayer of Confession with 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 o...
Prayer: Everyday Thanksgivings with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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 Yo...
Prayer: Beginning Again with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
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...
Pondering: The Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., 2022 Annual Gathering Sermon
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...
Pondering: The Rev. Joanna D'Agostino 2022 Annual Gathering Sermon
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 Hu...
Pondering: 2022 Annual Gathering Next Week!
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
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 gr...
Prayer: Rising Up with the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins
Welcome to the first episode of Prayers & Ponderings, a Heartland Conference Podcast. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey or your journey in listening to podcasts, you're welcome here! The Heartland Conference is a part of the United Church of Christ and works with churches in Northern Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. We are overjoyed to share with you our first prayer: Rising Up, written and spoken by Conference Minister, the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins. You can find the transcript to this prayer below.
Rising Up
Loving God,
Let all my work
Arise from You...
