Wellsprings Congregation

WellSprings has a specific ritual for our first Sunday after Labor Day: blowing bubbles. It means more than play. They symbolize our new possibilities and our hopes for happiness. Rev. Ken Beldon asks, "What is the life waiting to be born within you right now?" Attendees might also know this as the "baby goat" message, for reasons that become clear.

In the movie "Mud," two boys meet a drifter and explore the wild side of life. As Rev. Ken Beldon tells us, life is untamed and unpredictable, so welcome the wild when it comes.

Obscure American musician Rodriguez inspired white progressives in apartheid-era South Africa with his 1970s folk albums. Then he disappeared. Rumors spread of a suicide on stage. Decades later, South African filmmakers went to find the truth. Rev. Ken Beldon talks about the remarkable story behind the music and the man, who had no idea the influence he had.

At WellSprings, small groups of members meet each week to support each other through a deeper exploration of life. It's emotional, fun, and fulfilling. Parents inspired by their small group are beginning a new WellSprings family ministry. Hear the funny and touching stories from parents Elizabeth Musewicz, Rebecca Klein Kerper, and Liz Casals. Sign-up information coming soon!

In the coming-of-age comedy "The Way Way Back," a boy is bewildered by the flawed adults surrounding him. In a sermon punctuated with laughs, Rev. Ken Beldon shows us how it's important to get out of the driver's seat sometimes (and how wiggling your butt can sometimes be downright holy). PG-13 content

In the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," the happiness of thousands is dependent on the torture of a single innocent child. Rev. Ken Beldon ties that story to this summer's documentary "The House I Live In," criticizing the human toll of America's drug war.

Life is much more dangerous in the zombie film "World War Z" than in our world, but in both worlds, we must face fear. In the wake of Trayvon Martin's death, we must choose a better response to fear so we may live up to the ideals of universalism, a love that invites all in.

Who else to talk about internships, lessons, and gratitude than WellSprings intern minister-in-training Greg Pelley? His assignment this week was to dig deeper into this summer's movie comedy "The Internship," but it's what he's learned at WellSprings that will touch the heart.

"You have to work your hardest and if you do, you have a shot at a silver lining." Do you think life is a competition to get that silver lining? Rev. Ken Beldon says competition can be fulfilling, but only if we don't think about winning as the only thing.

Ever notice how many superheroes wear masks? Superman doesn't. His identity is emblazoned right over his heart (until he's Clark Kent again, of course). How can we open our hearts and learn to peel back our own masks?

Why are there so many movies about time travel? The latest is one called "Safety Not Guaranteed." Greg Pelley shows us how the concept of time travel forces us to look back on our lives and ask ourselves what we would do differently — and what we regret.

The Great Gatsby is a jumping-off point for Rev. Ken Beldon to discuss moving from ego to life-changing connection. He quotes Einstein, Rumi, and even the Seven Dwarves to illustrate the message. Note: Contains adult language.

In our summer series SpiritFlix, finding messages in movies, ministerial intern Greg Pelley digs deep into the latest Star Trek movie. In it, the young James Kirk goes on a journey of humility, but suffers a painful loss that threatens to push him to seek revenge. Greg draws from lessons in Buddhist tradition and his own journey from architecture to ministry to answer the question, how do we cope with pain in our lives?

When Pat Humphries wrote the folk song "Swimming to the Other Side," she created an enduring image. But do we recognize where we are? Or are we living unaware of the water around us? Rev. Ken Beldon draws lessons from John Updike, David Foster Wallace, the Beatles, and more.

Inspired by songwriter Mason Jennings' tune "I Love You and Buddha Too," Rev. Ken Beldon says whatever we believe, love is the main thing. Our lives have one common destiny. But he knows love is often met with fundamentalism or violence. How do we love then? Rev. Ken expands on words from Thoreau, Dan Gottlieb, Alice Walker, and Humberto Maturana, who said, "Love...is the only emotion that expands intelligence."

In his series Songs of the Spirit, Rev. Ken Beldon delves into Bob Dylan's classic song "My Back Pages." The key lyric: "I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now." As we get older, how do we avoid hiding behind ego and fear, acquisitions and possessions? Rev. Ken ties together lessons from Thich Nhat Hanh, Joseph Campbell, Dr. Carl Jung, and even Homer Simpson. All of them teach us how to be younger tomorrow in spirit than we are today.

Even in the wake of terrorism, we can choose opening, not closing. That's Rev. Ken Beldon's message after the bloodshed in Boston: "I have found this past week strength and solace in sweat, in blood and in tears … what is most precious about our common humanity." He quotes from Jesus, the Buddha, Harry Potter, Matisyahu, Pema Chodron, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the first Sunday after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Matisyahu's song "One Day" has become a spiritual anthem. One of the core beliefs of WellSprings is the “ripples of connection.” Our actions have untold effects in this world. In his message, Rev. Ken Beldon quotes from Kurt Vonnegut, Candace Lightner, Thich Nhat Hạnh, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and William Ellery Channing, who wrote those immortal Unitarian Universalist words, "I am a member of the living family of all souls.”

In the Avett Brothers song "Ten Thousand Words," books cannot provide all of life's answers. Rev. Ken Beldon, inspired by the song's lyrics, weaves together lessons from St. Francis of Assisi, Corinthians, John Shelby Spong, Walt Whitman, Roger Ebert, and even South Park to illuminate this week's Song of the Spirit.

"What’s in the way for you? What anger? What bitterness? What fear?" On Easter, Rev. Ken draws lessons from Buddhist traditions, Rumi, even The Shawshank Redemption. He asks us to look for the stones in our hearts to move toward wholeness.