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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!

Amen-Peanut Butter-Eyeballs
Amen-Peanut Butter-Eyeballs

Our family prays at mealtime to practice gratitude in our lives. I love that my children are taking it as their own, finding their own meaning.
By Christian Schmidt | 9/19/2018
Angry Birds
Angry Birds

Who are the angry birds in my life? Do I avoid opportunities in fear of risks? What are the sticks I carry in my heart so as not to be hurt again?
By Yuri Yamamoto | 9/12/2018
The Beauty Spilling Out
The Beauty Spilling Out

It's an impulse of the human self to be known fully, and that’s almost never possible unless we risk the conversations that help us see past our initial impressions.
By Amanda Poppei | 9/5/2018
Fear Can't Last Forever
Fear Can't Last Forever

This is a story of in-the-middle for those wondering how their story ends.
By Robin Tanner | 8/29/2018
Bruh
Bruh

Black people are so accustomed to being ignored and invisible that a simple acknowledgement—a simple I see you —from a peer goes a long way.
By DeReau K. Farrar | 8/22/2018
Petrichor
Petrichor

May we find unexpected ways to remember where we came from and imagine where we may go next. May we find touchstones of our pasts, and may they become a foundation for the future.
By Alex Haider-Winnett | 8/15/2018
Someone Loved by Someone Else
Someone Loved by Someone Else

If a friend were in my situation, I would have seen their failings as human. So why hold someone to an unforgiving standard just because that someone is me ?
By Kat Liu | 8/8/2018
Red Bubble Letters
Red Bubble Letters

It is my only memory of a lesson from Kindergarten Sunday School class. Maybe it’s the only one that counts.
By Misha Sanders | 8/1/2018
The Gift I've Already Been Given
The Gift I've Already Been Given

Almost every person I told about my family's near-accident told me that it was God intervening. But that’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to God.
By Nathan Ryan | 6/13/2018
Home, Again
Home, Again

People move places for jobs, relations, opportunities, escape, hindering our ability to put down new roots. And yet, we carry a constancy: the still, quiet voice within.
By Teresa Honey Youngblood | 6/6/2018
Be a Blessing
Be a Blessing

I’d gotten in the habit of keeping my head down and hardly noticing where I was or who was around me. On this day, I decided to greet the world differently.
By S.J. Butler | 5/30/2018
Playlists of the Spirit
Playlists of the Spirit

Music is my solace and my comfort, the one thing that’s always with me. I feel its vibration deep in my soul; it’s my spiritual practice. Music tells the story of my life.
By Connie Simon | 5/23/2018
Building a Common Life
Building a Common Life

I choose to believe in community. I choose to believe in the difficult, slow work of building a common life.
By Elea Kemler | 5/16/2018
The Story of My Birth
The Story of My Birth

Tell me the story of my birth, and help me understand how you were changed the day I entered the world. Help me know love, deep in my bones.
By Mandie McGlynn | 5/9/2018
Blue Sky Returning
Blue Sky Returning

However imperfectly I may be living this life of mine, there’s no one better at it, and there’s no one else who can do it for me.
By Lindasusan Ulrich | 4/25/2018
The Strength That Defines Us
The Strength That Defines Us

My heart broke the day my son stood in the bathroom crying. He handed me a pair of scissors and told me to just cut it . I told him how beautiful his hair was and how sad I would be to see him cut it.
By Rayla D. Mattson | 4/18/2018
That They May Have Like-Mindedness
That They May Have Like-Mindedness

I want the spaces in which we meet to be encased by aspirations and forward loving, not affirmations and self-applause. I want to love the people I disagree with, knowing that we’re all just out to find a little more life.
By DeReau K. Farrar | 4/11/2018
Putting the Pieces Together
Putting the Pieces Together

In real life, we can only place the pieces, one by one, and see what kind of picture we create. Sometimes we turn out to have chosen the wrong piece. Sometimes the picture is wildly unexpected.
By Amanda Poppei | 4/4/2018
God and Guns
God and Guns

I know deep in my spirit that I am held by the Mystery; part of the Mystery and witness to it; an agent of stardust whose perception of the world might not be all that there is to see.
By Teresa Honey Youngblood | 3/28/2018
Kindling the Spirit
Kindling the Spirit

What if we encouraged and celebrated each other for who we are? What if, instead of criticizing, we challenged with love, affirming the good we see in one another?
By Connie Simon | 3/21/2018