Sunday Morning Café

01/04/2026

Some faith is handed down like a well-seasoned recipe.�Other faith is learned by necessity.

In this week’s Sunday Morning Cafe reflection, I share two very different stories—one shaped by multigenerational faith and contemplative prayer, the other formed through trauma, beauty, and learning to look up in the dark. Together, they remind us that there’s more than one way to practice presence—and that healing often comes through the practices that quietly sustain us.

Read "Practicing Presence" here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/practicing-presence

12/31/2025

You may be measuring the year by what gets finished—while something sacred is forming in what’s left undone.

Long after lists are cleared and resolutions fade, certain moments remain. This week’s reflection considers holiness, play, and the gift of presence.

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☕ What is an activity that is playful for you that you enjoyed as a child?�
☕ How do you play these days, whether or not you did it as a kid?

Explore “This New Year’s Resolution: Procrastinate More” here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/this-new-year-s-resolution-procrastinate-more

From my family to yours, “Blessed New Year!”

12/28/2025

What if the New Year doesn’t need another resolution—but more room to play?

❄ In this week’s Sunday Morning Café reflection, I return to a winter story of snow forts, delayed errands, and an igloo that mattered more than anything that could be bought in a store. Along the way, the piece explores play as a form of holiness—and procrastination as a sacred interruption that creates space for presence, joy, and connection.

Read the full reflection here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/this-new-year-s-resolution-procrastinate-more

12/23/2025

"Weather is a fickle thing. Maybe there’ll be snow on Christmas. Maybe there won’t be. Life is not so much fickle as it is full—so full of depth, meaning, beauty, goodness, and love, too—also full of mistakes, disappointments, failures, and tragedies as well. “

This week’s article explores what it means to rest in God—not as escape from suffering, but as presence within it.

Explore the reflection here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/emmanuel-in-the-mirror2

Merry Christmas, Sunday Morning Cafe Family!

12/21/2025

“There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
— Thomas Merton

This week’s Sunday Morning Café reflection, Emmanuel in the Mirror, sits with that startling claim in the midst of winter darkness and unfinished grief—asking what it might mean to live as if this were true.

Read the full reflection: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/emmanuel-in-the-mirror2

12/17/2025

What if the path to intimacy with the Sacred runs straight through the lives of the sick, the frail, and the aging?

In this week’s Sunday Morning Cafe, I explore what aging parents teach us about resilience, surrender, and the sacred work of caring for those who once cared for us.

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☕ Who is an elder who was or is sacred to you?�
☕ What is something you have learned through caregiving?

Read the full reflection in the comments.

12/16/2025

Check out Lynn O'Brien's cover of Brave by Sarah Bareilles from a past SMC event, and be sure to subscribe to the SMC YouTube Channel! 👉 https://youtu.be/RdEzmP-gtlk?si=GxjfJWLujdszDNr6

I would love to see you at our Feb 15th SMC event on relationships — single or coupled, this one's for you. Early bird tickets are ending soon. Learn more at https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events

☕️ At Sunday Morning Café, all are welcome—regardless of background or ability to pay.
100% of donations support bringing SMC events to more people, more often: https://gofund.me/cac034baf

Thank you for believing in this mission of community and connection.

Lynn O’Brien performs a live cover of “Brave” by Sara Bareilles at Sunday Morning Café — a bi-monthly community event in St. Louis. Hosted by Dr. Tom Wagner,...

12/14/2025

Life’s greatest gifts frequently involve the letting go of control.

This week’s reflection is a tribute to my mom. It wanders through aging, resilience, and the sacred reciprocity of care.

☕ Read “Presents in Wrinkled Wrapping Paper” here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/presents-in-wrinkled-wrapping-paper

P.S. Enjoy this photo of my kids with Mom. In the background hangs a disco ball, which adorned our ceiling for the occasional dance party. Makes me smile.

12/10/2025

Long before the surgical bright lights, there was a small ritual in my living room: oil, a prayer, and a question that surfaced from the quiet.

💡 Peace didn’t arrive by eliminating fear—it arrived by opening a door for grace to enter.

Sometimes the smallest ritual can disarm the biggest anxiety. What if the next step toward calm isn’t doing more, but allowing more?
....�
☕ What rituals—sacred or simple—bring you back to yourself?�
☕ When was the last time a small practice created a big shift?
Share below.
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[Full reflection link in comments.]

12/07/2025

How do you prepare your heart before stepping into something that scares you?

In this week’s Sunday Morning Café article, I tell the story of Thanksgiving, a hip replacement, and the surprising ways peace arrived—through a priest friend, ancestral memory, a 350-year-old Prayer Tree, and a question that shifted everything:
👉 What will you do with this one wild life?

Enjoy a spiritual reflection on fear, ritual, and the holy that shows up in the smallest openings.

☕ Read the full piece: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/hip-to-be-holy-part-tw

12/03/2025

You don’t get to choose when your past taps you on the shoulder. But you can choose how you respond.

☕ In this week’s Sunday Morning Café, I explore how to sit with those “weighty” memories long enough to discover what they’re actually trying to say—and what they might reveal about your story.

You can read the full reflection in A Storied Life.
Link in comments.

11/30/2025

Some moments in life feel heavier because they echo something older.

In this week’s Sunday Morning Café, I share a memory-care practice rooted in curiosity, compassion, and the stories you carry in your body.�

Read the full reflection: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/a-storied-life