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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!

 

  • Making Room at the Table

    From above, seven people hold hands around a table before eating.
    Making Room at the Table
    When it comes to living our expansive, inclusive, anti-oppression faith, we fall short.
    By Erika A. Hewitt | 6/19/2019
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  • Even When...

    Clouds swirl against a blue and orange sky.
    Even When...
    As a hospital chaplain, I often listen to painful stories. We call it compassionate presence, but I may be crying inside. When words fail, I pray and sing.
    By Yuri Yamamoto | 6/12/2019
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  • Honk If You Love

    A flock of gray geese, one of which is in mid-honk.
    Honk If You Love
    If justice is to be realized, our voices must speak loudly—even boisterously—of love.
    By Lindasusan Ulrich | 6/5/2019
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  • Everyone for Everyone

    A small crowd of people singing or chanting, some with smiles and others with arms raised.
    Everyone for Everyone
    People of color—and other marginalized people—can’t just want things to be different. It has to be everyone wanting things to be different for everyone.
    By Rayla D. Mattson | 5/29/2019
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  • Feeding Ourselves and Each Other

    A person's arm is seen stirring the contents of a large iron cauldron, suspended over a lively fire.
    Feeding Ourselves and Each Other
    The stone soup story isn’t about selfish people. It’s about people who thought they were powerless.
    By Liz James | 5/22/2019
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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