Wellsprings Congregation

How has awkwardness, embarrassment, and uncomfortable growth shown up in your life? Where are you being forced to rest and receive?

Is liberty a shield or a sword? Is liberty a vote or a veto?

It's the kind of question that can keep us up at night: Do we matter? How do we know we matter? Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti challenges us to look deep inside to find the answer.

Spirituality isn't about being perfect. It is only through being honest about where we are that we can come to know the true power of grace and love in our lives. Inspired by the movie "Waitress," the tale of a young baker and her pies, Ministerial Intern Lee Paczulla shares a message as part of our SpiritFlix series, about "coming clean" with our feelings and experiences.

Are you chasing happiness, hoping if you do the right things or go the right direction, you'll find it? How do you create real happiness? Rev. Justin Osterman reminds all of us that happiness is not a destination at which we arrive, it's a state we cultivate; he explains why the pursuit of happiness leaves so many people far from it. What are you doing today to cultivate happiness?

The Sandman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Santa. In the animated tale "Rise of the Guardians," these fairytale heroes team up to save the world. Rev. Kathy Ellis brings us a playful message about nurturing each other and ourselves.

When successful Hollywood director Tom Shadyac suffered a life-changing injury, he asked, What's wrong with the world? Inspired by Shadyac's film "I AM," Rev. Ken Beldon reminds us to establish a spiritual practice and explore our capacity for compassion and connection.

In the wake of the Boko Haram kidnappings and the Santa Barbara atrocity, Rev. Ken Beldon was reminded of the action movie "Wanted," a disturbing fantasy of masculinity realized through bloodshed. "As a man," he said, "I want to see more clearly the pathological sludge we're swimming in and producing. I want to do better, and I want us to do better.

"When a child is hungry, he oughta be fed." Those are the opening words of soul singer Naomi Shelton's song "Am I Asking Too Much," this week's inspiration for Rev. Ken Beldon's message. In a competitive culture where many of us feel we're in survival mode, how do we continue to see clearly so that we can love deeply?

Allow yourself to be surprised by joy. Rev. Ken Beldon is inspired by the Sean Staples song "Joy Comes Back" as he reminds us to prepare ourselves to feel joy, even when it seems very far away indeed.

Sunday Message

Sunday Message

"Scabs are mercy. New skin is grace." A little scrawl on the street inspired ministerial intern Lee Paczulla in this message about the Christian rock song "Worn" by Tenth Avenue North. She discusses her own wounds, scars, and the gifts they have to offer.

How do we heal from painful legacies? Leonard Cohen sang these words: "Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything; that's how the light gets it." Rev. Ken Beldon says at midlife, we can make better sense of what we inherited and leave behind a legacy of healing.

At midlife, we reflect on Emily Dickinson's insight: "Because I could not stop for Death, Death kindly stopped for me..." How has the awareness of your mortality, or the mortality of those you care about, deepened your spiritual journey? Rev. Ken Beldon quotes Lou Reed and Neil deGrasse Tyson in his message, "When I Leave This Joint At Some Further Point."

At midlife we often bump up against some frustrating limits. How can knowing our limitations at midlife teach us greater joy? Connection? Caring for our own life and the lives of others? In understanding the joy of limited possibilities, we can discover a more profound realization of our gifts.

In the '80s, the Talking Heads famously sang about a beautiful house and a beautiful wife and asked, "Well, how did I get here?" No matter where we are in life, we are not where we once were. And we don't know where we are going to be. Is midlife a crisis or an opportunity? Rev. Ken Beldon talks about faith in the midst of our lives.

In our daily lives, are we really seeing people? Or are we seeing them as objects? Rev. Ken Beldon encourages us to reach for a deeper understanding of self, community, and the world.

"Your heart is a drum keeping time with everyone," musician Beck sings. In this week's message, Rev. Ken Beldon reminds us all of how much we share in this world.

What do we do in the face of fear or pain? How can we work with the hard things in our lives? Ministerial intern Lee Paczulla delivers this week's message, "We Share the World."