Main Content
Braver/Wiser: Courage and Compassion for Life as It Is
Braver/Wiser
Braver/Wiser
Worship

Life is full of hard edges and complicated choices. Braver/Wiser gives you weekly message of courage and compassion for life as it is. Every Wednesday we deliver an original written reflection by a contemporary religious leader, and brief prayer, grounded in Unitarian Universalism. Join the Braver/Wiser community and sign up today!

 

  • Where the Real Growth Happens

    Two people on a set, obscured in the background, while a third person holds a production clapperboard with digitial numbers.
    Where the Real Growth Happens
    When we can gently hold things steady, change comes from within; that’s where the real growth happens.
    By Alix Klingenberg | 5/15/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Becoming Ourselves

    A ring of leaves: from small green leaves, to large green ones, to yellowing leaves, to dry leaves.
    Becoming Ourselves
    Who are you going to be, today? And tomorrow? Who are we all becoming, together?
    By Amanda Poppei | 5/8/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Indiscriminate Tastes

    Above a crowd of people looking up and taking pictures with their phones, a white-tutu-wearing trapeze artist is suspended from a cloud of white balloons (part of the Molecole show)..
    Indiscriminate Tastes
    It's hard to feel gratitude for something when you're focusing on what’s wrong with it.
    By Kat Liu | 5/1/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Inviting Our True Attention

    Against a pond whose surface is entirely covered with small green leaves, a green frog hides in plain sight.
    Inviting Our True Attention
    I call the tall bush on my back patio “Burning Bush” because in autumn its leaves are a fiery red. All winter long I overlooked three uninhabited nests inside of it. For months and months I could have perceived—but didn’t—what was in plain sight. ...
    By Karen G. Johnston | 4/24/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Brilliant Collisions

    A large number of brightly-colored, numbered balls are caught spinning in a clear lottery tumbler.
    Brilliant Collisions
    We can’t always predict which choices will wind up having a huge impact on us, whether it's bringing home a stuffed animal or taking a particular train to Oxford Circus.
    By Lindasusan Ulrich | 4/17/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • A Different Kind of Peace

    Two hands pull toilet paper from a wall-mounted dispenser.
    A Different Kind of Peace
    Sometimes people show up fully and be with me. And sometimes they cannot, even if they really care about me and want to help.
    By Misha Sanders | 4/10/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Try Again Tomorrow

    A toddler pouts in the background, while a plate of grapes with a corndog occupies the foreground.
    Try Again Tomorrow
    When I internalize cultural messages about the definitions of success or failure—or anything, really—I undermine my own sense of self-worth.
    By Helen Rose | 4/3/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Downrange of Mystery

    A US naval sargeant cuts a man's hair as another seaman looks on.
    Downrange of Mystery
    A haircut, a cup of coffee, or just an honest “How are you?” can be transformed into a powerful moment between two people living in a hard world.
    By Rebekah Savage | 3/27/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • God Manifest

    Six Double Stuf Oreos stacked up, appetizingly, next to a glass of milk
    God Manifest
    I saw a woman surrounded by the pressures to conform to adulthood, being the adult she always wanted to be when she was a child. She was as God made her, not who everyone else wanted her to be.
    By Nathan Ryan | 3/20/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Another Human Miracle

    Against the red, dusty surface of Mars, the silhouette of the Mars Rover Opportunity appears as a little robot head.
    Another Human Miracle
    What could you accomplish this week if you knew you had a ground team wishing you well? Who are the other explorers around you, needing a word of encouragement that would mean so much coming from you?
    By Monica Dobbins | 3/13/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • This Is What We Do Here

    In the crowded pews of a church, adults and children sing with energy.
    This Is What We Do Here
    Despite being warmly welcomed over and over by the greeters, by the family sitting behind me, and by the lead pastor, I couldn’t shake that “guest” feeling.
    By Erika A. Hewitt | 3/6/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Trying Something Different

    On a workbench scattered with tools, a person uses a screwdriver.
    Trying Something Different
    Over the years, I’ve built up an impressive array of tools for meetings: I-statements, being assertive, and all of that stuff. What I could improve on, though, is knowing when to switch tools.
    By Liz James | 2/27/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Your Soul's Address

    A small button, leaning against a rock, that says "you are beautiful"
    Your Soul's Address
    It is deeply spiritual work to learn to treat ourselves with compassion; to learn to see ourselves, if only in moments, the same way we look at something or someone we find beautiful: a newborn baby, the ocean, a sunset.
    By Elea Kemler | 2/13/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Here. Now. You.

    On a NYC subway car, a woman sits with both feet planted on the floor, hands held lightly in meditation position, with her eyes closed.
    Here. Now. You.
    Outside of the meditation hall, we plan for the future and think of the past. But so often we replay past regrets and worry about future events to the point where we’re no longer present in the present.
    By Kat Liu | 2/6/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Where the Action Is

    A line of protesters, arm in arm, shouting and holding small U.S. flags
    Where the Action Is
    Love without justice is not love. Compassion without deeds is not compassion. Faith without action is not faith. And religion without politics is not religion. In my view, people of faith are not entitled to avoid politics for the sake of a short-lived spiritual high.
    By James Gertmenian | 1/30/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Finding Our Way Out

    A vibrant green broad-billed hummingbird sits on an outstretched human palm
    Finding Our Way Out
    Surrender is the last thing, often the only thing, available. And so we give ourselves to it. We fear it is our end. Sometimes—with grace or luck—we find it is our liberation.
    By Karen G. Johnston | 1/23/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Big Shoes to Fill

    From the arms down, a toddler leaves footprints on the beach, her back to the camera.
    Big Shoes to Fill
    Traditions and habits can be changed or broken and that’s not always bad. It doesn’t mean we didn’t learn or like what we did in the past, it just means that we moved on to something else and that’s okay too.
    By Rayla D. Mattson | 1/16/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Love's Hiding Place

    A person silhoutted against window blinds talks on the phone
    Love's Hiding Place
    My soul nudged me from a hiding place to confess and to seek forgiveness, and only through the grace of the Great Mystery of Life unfolding around us did I receive the blessing of journeying with a beloved, grieving friend.
    By Rebekah Savage | 1/9/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Quitting

    A pile of empty green and brown wine and liquor bottles.
    Quitting
    Once I quit drinking, my inner voice and I began the harder work: that of creating a life from which I do not need or want to escape.
    By Alix Klingenberg | 1/2/2019
    Average rating:
    0/5

  • Too Much of Everything

    A young child curled up on a couch, her head buried in her hands
    Too Much of Everything
    In real life, sometimes grief looms largest in December. Sometimes there's one too many dress-ups and the gold tulle makes your legs itch. “I just needed it to stop for a minute. Next time I will take calm breaths.”
    By Misha Sanders | 12/19/2018
    Average rating:
    0/5

Pages

Join the Braver/Wiser community and sign up today!

Like, Share, Print, or Explore

For more information contact braverwiser@uua.org.

Sidebar

Section Menu

Worship & Inspiration

Related Sections