Braver/Wiser: A Weekly Message of Courage and Compassion

Braver/Wiser

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

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!

Displaying 1 - 10 of 206.

  • A black-and-white photo, taken from above, of the photographer's legs outstreched over water, and his young son nestled on top of his legs.
    Sometimes love is simply letting someone else like what they like.
    by Nathan Ryan |
  • In a grocery store, a person wearing a mask looks off-camera while two other masked shoppers shop behind them
    May I have the wisdom to be curious when I find myself grumbling about “them.”
    by Erika A. Hewitt |
  • Outdoors, and seen from behind, a person with short gray hair wears a colorful hat with tulle and pink flowers.
    A triumph of love over death is the core of the Easter message.
    by Rachel Lonberg |
  • A sharp, gleaming fish hook lies on the edge of a boat, with a body of water visible in the background.
    Spirit of Life and Love, help me to notice when I am hooked.
    by Shari Woodbury |
  • At the edge of the woods, with bare trees, the back of someone's head as they hold binoculars up to their face.
    Maybe hope is fleeting. It leaves and returns again; there’s beauty in its impermanence.
    by Jessica Clay |
  • A Black health care provider, in face mask and shield, squats to talk with a man in a wheelchair, who also wears a facemask.
    During my chaplaincy, I found that many people could not imagine being fundamentally whole.
    by Anthony Cruz |
  • On a bed of rocks, an empty pink snail shell has a small hole. Purple flowers rest nearby.
    My broken is what makes me who I am today.
    by Paula Gribble |
  • A woman slighty bows her head as a priest's hand moves away, having just left a cross of ashes on her forehead.
    Impermanence, mortality, ashes, dust: this is the truth of being human.
    by Lora Brandis |
  • A black man in a dark space looks sideways into the camera. Across his face, in colored light, the letters A G C T represent DNA nucleotides.
    I've adopted the practice of spiritual reconnection with my ancestors to heal intergenerational trauma.
    by Jabari S. Jones |
  • A person's hand, in motion, hovers above an "emergency stop" button
    I’m part of a covenantal community and when a covenant gets broken, it’s my responsibility to name that break, with kindness and the intention of healing, and to call us back into right relationship.
    by Julica Hermann de la Fuente |

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Submit to us!

The Braver/Wiser rotation includes reflections written by Unitarian Universalist leaders who submit reflections for review.
Please send your submissions to Braver/Wiser's editor, Erika Hewitt.