Braver/Wiser: A Weekly Message of Courage and Compassion
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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 201.

  • 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 |
  • A black person's hand, holding a pen over a blank notebook.
    I named the truth as I perceived it, because it didn’t feel like there was any other option.
    by Aisha Ansano |
  • A Black woman, with her back to the camera, speaks into a microphone in front of a large audience outdoors, which appears to be a rally or protest.
    Black Queens saved our democracy. We owe them a great deal.
    by Carol Thomas Cissel |
  • As protestors with a large US flag climb on the U.S. Capitol in the background, a man in a hat and sweatshirt is helped by other protestorsgets to rinse his eyes, presumably from tear gas.
    Holding people accountable for the impact of their behavior is not revenge; it’s what makes change and growth possible, and no real healing in community can come without it.
    by Kristin Grassel Schmidt |
  • Sitting cross-legged on a bed, a person holds a guitar and appears to sing. Next to them is a musical keyboard and an open laptop.
    I experience the creative impulse as living just under the surface of the daily grind: tugging; imploring, When do we all get to sing together again?
    by Erin J. Walter |
  • "2021" is written in the snow on a gravel surface outdoors.
    What’s the one word you hope will define your upcoming year?
    by Tim Atkins |

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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.