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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!
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Awe!
Awe can’t be scheduled, but we can cultivate a discipline of noticing beauty. This article is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, take in beauty, and practice wonder.
Dr. Tom Wagner
2 days ago6 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
“I Shall Die, but That Is All I Shall Do for Death”: The Sequel
Could years of small surrender prepare you for the hardest letting go? This reflection explores Mary’s story of illness, recovery, contemplative prayer, and the kind of peace that does not arrive by accident.
Dr. Tom Wagner
May 3112 min read
Unbroken: Part Three
How does someone heal after experiencing profound trauma? This article explores the deeper, resilient, and even sacred part of the human spirit that suffering cannot destroy.
Dr. Tom Wagner
May 39 min read
Each and Every Soul Has Some Easter In It, No Exceptions
What if there’s a part of you that already knows how to “keep climbing” when things get hard? This reflection explores the resilience woven into every soul.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Apr 55 min read
Mind the Gap
What would it mean to “love the one you’re with”—when that one is you, just as you are? This reflection explores that invitation.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Mar 296 min read
Exodus
Faith traditions speak often about welcoming the stranger and the alien in our midst. This reflection explores what it means to see them—and not look away.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Mar 156 min read
Living in Memory of the Mountaintops
We may not always live on the mountaintop, but we can live in memory of it. This article explores how, even though moments of awe fade, we can intentionally remember them and let them guide how we see life and people.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Mar 88 min read
A Recipe for Winter-Stark Days (and Nights)
What if nothing in your life—not even sadness or spiritual flatness—stands outside the Sacred? A reflection on winter-stark days and intimacy with the Sacred.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jan 116 min read
Practicing Presence
Winter has a way of revealing what has been growing underground all along. Read on for a reflection on resilience, presence, and healing through Presence.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jan 45 min read
Emmanuel in the Mirror
In a season marked by dim light, unfinished grief, and unmet expectations, what does it mean to say that the Sacred is still here? Read on for a meditation on Advent, Presence, and the luminous quality that shines in our seemingly ordinary lives.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Dec 21, 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
Hip to Be Holy Part Two
You don’t get to choose when fear taps you on the shoulder. But you can choose what steadies you. This piece invites you to consider what might ground you when life shifts.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Dec 7, 20255 min read
Rendezvous
Maybe the Sacred is already reaching for you, in the spaces only you recognize. Read on for a reflection on unexpected altars, inked stars, and the God who meets us there.
Dr. Tom Wagner
Jun 29, 20255 min read
Rendezvous: Meeting the Divine in Your Own Way
The Sacred doesn’t need a sanctuary. What if God is waiting for you in the places unique to you—under the stars, beside an old tree, or in the quiet corners of memory?
Dr. Tom Wagner
Dec 15, 20244 min read
Explore the full archive of Sunday Morning Café blogs from 2009 through 2024.
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