Sunday Morning Café

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O'Fallon, MO
Sunday Morning Café

Dr. Tom Wagner is a resilience researcher, keynote speaker, workshop leader and counselor with 30+ years of experience.

Follow him for weekly tools and inspiration to unlock resilience and deepen connection.

04/06/2026

Carl Pandolfi is a classically trained pianist whose musical talents have taken him from those roots to include many genres, including jazz and popular music. He will join Jennifer Theby Quinn on our stage for the first time on April 12!

Jennifer is an actor and vocalist, very familiar to audiences in the Saint Louis metro area and beyond. She is known for her soulful interpretations of the American theater songbook as well as popular and sacred music.

You won’t want to miss these two! Grab your tickets — link is in the comments 🎶☕

04/05/2026

In my religious tradition, we celebrate Easter not because that event took an eraser to suffering or death. Rather, we believe that our suffering and even our death can be transformed into vehicles for deeper meaning and new life.

In my Sunday Morning Café article this week, I reflect on a mountain climb with my son—and the idea that each and every soul carries a capacity for renewal, especially in the middle of life’s hardest climbs.

This Easter, consider where you’re being invited to “go up” rather than give up.

Read this week’s article or listen to the podcast version:
📖 Read: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/each-and-every-soul-has-some-easter-in-it-no-exceptions
🎧 Listen here (or wherever you get your podcasts): https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/podcast/episode/21fa9663/ep-12-smc-article-each-and-every-soul-has-some-easter-in-it-no-exceptions

04/02/2026

We’ve got something special planned for our April 12th event: a new musical duo! 🎶

Jennifer Theby Quinn is an amazing performer. There’s a soulfulness in her voice that gets to the deepest part of the heart! I can’t wait to hear her with the great pianist, Carl Pandolfi.

Also, this time around, we will take full advantage of the beauty of our venue at Eden Theological Seminary. We’ll meet on the outdoor patio at 3:00pm for socializing over appetizers and refreshments.

☕ Just 10 days away! As of this moment, there are still tickets available. Save your spot here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-morning-cafe-event-april-12-2026-registration-1982285152252?aff=social

04/01/2026

There’s a version of you you wish you could be. And then there’s the version of you you actually are.

The gap between the two can be hard to face, but it’s also where something important begins. Those spaces might become the beginning of healing, if we’re willing to face them with honesty and compassion.

“Love the one you’re with”… especially when that one is you.
....
☕ What makes it hardest to accept yourself as you are?
☕ What helps you come back to yourself with compassion?

Answer in the comments! I'd love to hear. And then read this week’s article or listen to the podcast version. Links to both are in the comments.

03/29/2026

Which fire are you warming yourself by?

In my Sunday Morning Café article this week, I reflect on a powerful image from John’s Gospel: two campfires. One where Peter denied Jesus three times. Another where he affirmed his love for Jesus a corresponding three times.

The invitation?
To notice where you’re sitting, and whether it’s keeping you stuck in regret, or moving you toward something more life-giving.

📖 Read this week’s article: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/mind-the-gap

🎧 Listen to the podcast version here (or wherever you get your podcasts): https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/podcast/episode/226f5a46/ep-11-smc-article-mind-the-gap

03/26/2026

What do the happiest people have in common?

It’s not that they’re happy all the time. It’s that they’ve developed a robust repertoire of strategies that allows them to persevere and keep going, even through difficult times.

At our April Sunday Morning Café, Dr. Tim Bono will help us “break open” a conversation around something we don’t talk about enough: Not just gratitude, exercise, and sunshine, but how to overcome and process the difficult things we carry.

Because the reality is, when we go through adversity, there isn’t always a point where we simply “get over it.” We carry the psychological residue of those experiences with us.

But there’s another way to think about it. Not just post-traumatic stress, but post-traumatic growth.

The idea that we can change our relationship with difficult experiences. Not ignore or suppress them, but face them head on in ways that allow us to learn, grow, strengthen our relationships, and deepen our sense of inner calm.

This is the kind of conversation Tim teaches in his course on the science of happiness at Washington University, which fills up so quickly students can barely get into it.

We have a feeling this event will be no different. Join us April 12.
. . . .
☕ Sunday Morning Café events are like "mini retreats," featuring live music, a thoughtful, research-informed talk, guided discussions, and refreshments. Find tickets & more info at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-morning-cafe-event-april-12-2026-registration-1982285152252?aff=social

03/25/2026

There are at least two versions of you getting older.

One is the part that reaches for comfort: settling into the recliner, easing into routine, drifting toward what’s familiar.

The other still feels the pull to grow: to move, to contribute, to invest in something beyond yourself.

They’re both in the same “room.” Both looking at the same life. Both making a case for what comes next. The question is which one gets the final say?

Don’t drift into comfort. Choose purpose.

☕ Read this week’s article or listen to the podcast version. Links to both are in the comments.

03/22/2026

“Snow on the roof” doesn’t have to mean the fire is fading.

In this week’s Sunday Morning Café, I share a reflection on aging, purpose, and the inner dialogue between what I call “Recliner Guy” and “Gym Guy.” One drifts toward ease. The other still feels the call to grow, to contribute, to invest in something larger than himself.

📖 Explore the reflection here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/when-snow-on-the-roof-means-fire-in-the-belly

🎧 Don't have time to read today? You can listen to the podcast version of this article here (or wherever you get your podcasts): https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/podcast/episode/22f913b5/ep-10-smc-article-when-snow-on-the-roof-means-fire-in-the-belly

03/19/2026

There are a lot of myths about happiness. One of the biggest is the idea that we’re supposed to be happy all the time, and that if we’re not, something must be wrong with us.

But as Dr. Tim Bono puts it, any psychologist will tell you: if you were happy all the time, that would be the indication that something is wrong. We’ve evolved a complex set of human emotions for a reason. There’s a time and a place for all of them.

When researchers study the happiest people around the world, one thing becomes clear: even the happiest people aren’t happy all the time. What they do have is a realistic set of expectations—that life is hard, relationships are hard, and careers are hard—and a set of strategies that helps them keep going through difficult times.

At our April SMC event, Dr. Bono will open up a conversation around something we don’t talk about enough: not just how to pursue happiness, but how to process and overcome the difficult things we carry.

Because the goal isn’t to ignore or suppress hardship. It’s to change our relationship to it—to face it, learn from it, and grow.

☕ Join us April 12. This event will sell out. Save your seat here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-morning-cafe-event-april-12-2026-registration-1982285152252?aff=social

03/18/2026

There’s an old spiritual song that describes God as “troubling the waters.”

Sometimes faith doesn’t calm the waters. Sometimes it stirs them. A divine calling often brings deep peace in the long run, but discomfort in the short term.

In my Sunday Morning Cafe article earlier this week, I reflected on an experience that stirred something deeper in me — a gathering outside an immigration detention center and the stories that challenged me to see Christ in the stranger in our midst.

Read this week’s article—or listen to the podcast version. Links to both are in the comments.

03/15/2026

Shackled at the wrists, ankles, and waist. Moved from one detention facility to another with no warning. Families often have no idea where their loved ones are.

For many detainees, the first mission is simple: find a way to call home.

In my Sunday Morning Cafe article this week, I reflected on a prayer service outside an immigration detention center and the stories shared by women who serve as pen pals and advocates for detainees and their families.

The experience left me wrestling with a simple but unsettling question: what does it mean to encounter Christ in the stranger in our midst?

☕ Explore the reflection here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/exodus

🎧 Don't have time to read today? You can listen to the podcast version of this article here (or wherever you get your podcasts): https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/podcast/episode/26f3610a/ep-9-smc-article-exodus

03/13/2026

Didn’t get a chance to read this week’s article?
Or want to reflect on it during your drive?

If you prefer listening, "Living in Memory of the Mountaintops" is now available as a podcast.

In this episode, I read my article published on March 8, 2026, exploring how even though moments of awe fade, we can intentionally remember them and let them guide how we see life and people.

🎧 Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/podcast/episode/241c8528/ep-8-smc-article-living-in-memory-of-the-mountaintops

(Subscribe and turn on alerts to be notified when new episodes drop!)

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O'Fallon, MO

Telephone

+13145038080

Website

http://tomwagnerspeaker.com/

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