top of page
Dr. Tom has been sharing refreshing, insightful essays on his Sunday Morning Café blog since 2009. Each Sunday, he brings his extensive experience from resilience research, counseling, and consulting to help you find more connection, meaning, and joy in life. We're so glad you're here to grow with this community!
Learn more about Project SMC here.
Get the SMC blog in your inbox here.
|
CATEGORIES
Search
Making Space for a New Couple
If resilient marriages are as unique as fingerprints, perhaps they need room to become what only they can become. A reflection on marriage, family, and the gift of making space.
Dr. Tom Wagner
3 days ago4 min read
Soul Mates
What if a soul mate isn’t just “the one,” but one of the many people who help you feel at home in your own life? This reflection explores the sacred gift of the soul mate pod.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 216 min read
“Look Harder”
A well-written song takes you deeply into the experience of its author while awakening something familiar in your own. In this week’s article, Dr. Tom’s tender and deeply human reflection on his mother’s life invites us to remember the people whose love, laughter, and presence have shaped us.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 148 min read
Presents in Wrinkled Wrapping Paper
What if the path to intimacy with the Sacred runs straight through the lives of the sick, the frail, and the aging? This reflection explores how love reshapes itself when strength gives way.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 75 min read
Unbroken: Part Two
Even a small, steady experience of love can anchor a person through trauma. This reflection explores how that same capacity exists in all of us, both to receive and to give.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Apr 269 min read
Foundations for a Brand New Marriage, or Making a Tired Marriage Brand New
The forming stage of a couple is not just romantic; it is formative. This reflection invites you to examine the roles, rules, and rhythms you are setting in place for the long haul.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Mar 13 min read
Autumn Love: Building Resilient Marriages When the Nest is Empty
When the children leave home and togetherness increases, how will you navigate what it means to be individuals in the midst of it? This reflection explores resilient marriages in the empty nest phase of life.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Feb 224 min read
Marriage Isn’t Hard Work; It’s Mostly Play
When relationships become all maintenance and no delight, something essential goes missing. This reflection explores how play restores the ease that love needs to endure.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Feb 86 min read
Marriage: A People Growing Machine
What if the limits you keep meeting in your closest relationships are the very engine of your growth? A reflection on marriage, endurance, and human formation.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jan 256 min read
This New Year’s Resolution: Procrastinate More
Not everything meaningful can be scheduled or optimized. This reflection considers play as a form of holiness in a world that rarely slows down.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Dec 28, 20255 min read
Presents in Wrinkled Wrapping Paper
What if the path to intimacy with the Sacred runs straight through the lives of the sick, the frail, and the aging? This reflection explores how love reshapes itself when strength gives way.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Dec 14, 20255 min read
A Thanksgiving Primer
You don’t have to be an iconographer to frame something holy. This article invites you to consider how things like Thanksgiving traditions become the canvases that hold our most enduring stories.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Nov 23, 20255 min read
A Muscular Gratitude
In the chaos of life, what happens when you stop long enough to savor? This article explores how small moments of grace can soften even the hardest memories.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Oct 26, 20256 min read
When’s the Next Time You’re Going to the Rainforest?
You don’t have to keep living the story you inherited. This week’s post is a reflection on internalized messages, intergenerational wounds, and the slow courage of rewriting the script.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Aug 3, 20255 min read
Back Porch Wisdom from Our First SMC Event
Sometimes the Sacred moves through scripture. Sometimes, through a favorite song playing in the background while the bread bakes. This reflection explores how simple meals and real conversations can become holy ground.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jul 27, 20254 min read
Have You Lost Your Mind? Confessions of a Risk Taker.
Building treehouses, crossing borders, challenging injustice—some of love’s best work happens off the map. This reflection invites you to consider the risks worth taking.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jul 6, 20255 min read
The Everyday Father
What if your greatest spiritual practice is simply showing up? This reflection reclaims the sacredness of time spent doing nothing together.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 15, 20254 min read
Father Time…Again…
Sometimes healing the father wound means rediscovering the gifts tucked inside it. This reflection explores what we keep, and what we leave behind.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 8, 20255 min read
Father Time
What if being a “real man” meant becoming more whole—not more hardened? This reflection explores how you can honor both strength and softness, in yourself and in others.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 1, 20254 min read
Wake Up Your Lizzie the Lion
Facing fear head-on leads to resilience and growth. What roar are you running toward?
Dr. Tom Wagner
Apr 6, 20253 min read
Explore the full archive of Sunday Morning Café blogs from 2009 through 2024.
bottom of page