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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 and brief prayer, grounded in Unitarian Universalism. Join the Braver/Wiser community and sign up today!

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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19

  • A table full of friends raises their glasses--colored glass goblets--in the air outdoors.
    What “toast, boast, and oath” might you offer this January?
    Reflection | By Sarah Klinger Osborne | January 3, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Choice, Contemplation, Integrity, New Year, Searching, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • In a sunny room, raised hands are the focus of this photo, with a few blurred faces in the background.
    May we be active participants in the liberatory potential of democracy.
    Reflection | By Shaya French | June 21, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), Choice, Conflict, Conscience, Democracy, Unitarian Universalism, Young Adults, Worship
  • A pink placard reading "Don't take away my birth control" taken at a Planned Parenthood Rally in New York City. In the background, the stonework of a courthouse is visible.
    As sacred beings, we hold the wisdom to know what is best for our own selves.
    Reflection | By Deborah Weiner | January 11, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Activism, Body, Choice, Self-Care, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Women, Reproductive Justice, Worship
  • Against a field of early evening stars, a path winds its way around a grassy hill and out of view.
    Little changes can snowball into massive impacts.
    Reflection | By JD Stillwater | November 16, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Choice, Gratitude, Imagination, Wonder, Worship
  • On a chain-link fence, frayed rope or twine has been used to weave a heart shape.
    Of all the things "faith" can mean, to me it means believing in us.
    Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | November 9, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Choice, Democracy, Living Our Faith, Power, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • A Black person with their back to the camera sits, holding the hand of a Black elder who's lying in a hospital bed.
    How much notice would I want ahead of time before I die?
    Reflection | By Karen G. Johnston | October 26, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Death, Ending, Psychology, Secular, Spiritual Practice, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • A vibrant colourful sunset or sunrise sky over limestone pavement landscape and a wind-bent English Hawthorn tree at Twisleton Scar, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, UK
    I wasn’t really “born this way.” I grew this way.
    Reflection | By Heather McDuffee | September 28, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #Pride, Choice, Coming Out, Friendship, God, Identity, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Marriage, National Coming Out Day, Transformation, Trust, Worship
  • A newborn infant lies on a bed next to their mother, whose torso reveals stretch marks and other signs of recently giving birth.
    Motherhood must be a choice. It cannot be chosen for us.
    Reflection | By Leslie Ahuvah Fails | May 11, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Body, Children, Choice, Mothers, Reproductive Justice, Worship
  • Two Black women pack toys into a box, as though preparing a donation
    Every time someone showed up for me, I learned that love is greater than skin deep.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | January 12, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Challenge, Choice, Direct Experience, Discernment, Living Our Faith, Love, Pain, Parents, Relationships, Worship
  • A worn, chipped statue of Mary, pictured from the shoulders up, with a weary expression.
    Each Advent, my empathy for Mary’s situation returns.
    Reflection | By Taryn Strauss | December 8, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Children, Choice, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Discernment, Women, Worship
  • "2021" is written in the snow on a gravel surface outdoors.
    What’s the one word you hope will define your upcoming year?
    Reflection | By Tim Atkins | December 30, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Choice, Discernment, Identity, New Year, Spiritual Practice, Worship
  • From the arms down, a toddler leaves footprints on the beach, her back to the camera.
    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.
    Reflection | By Rayla D. Mattson | January 16, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Body, Children, Choice, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Parents, Privilege
  • Two children run -- one is mid-jump -- through an alley, smiling.
    We could see the main path to the swimming hole ahead, but we had to pick our way through sand spurs to get there. Behind us were rattlesnakes. What did the youth do? They started playing.
    Reflection | By Teresa Honey Youngblood | October 10, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Children, Choice, Direct Experience, Discernment, Earth, Joy, Nature, Playfulness, Salvation
  • In a dark room, a lighted mobile over a baby's crib throws colored stars of light onto the walls.
    This is a story of in-the-middle for those wondering how their story ends.
    Reflection | By Robin Tanner | August 29, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Direct Experience, Fear, Hope, Humanism, Illness, Limitations, Parents, Psychology, Searching, Secular, Solidarity, Worry
  • The open back of a yellow moving truck, pakced with cartons and boxes.
    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.
    Reflection | By Teresa Honey Youngblood | June 6, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Awe, Change, Choice, Connections, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Home, Humanism, Nature, Personal Stories, Searching, Secular, Wonder
  • A close up of jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered across a table, and two people's hands sorting those pieces.
    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.
    Reflection | By Amanda Poppei | April 4, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Bridging Ceremony, Calling, Choice, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Contemplation, Courage, Direct Experience, Discernment, Hope, Humanism, Journey, Playfulness, Searching, Secular
  • In the shrubs next to an empty road, a sign (a blue "yes" on white board) is staked into the ground.
    Last year for Lent, I decided to say yes to any request. I made it all the way to Easter without  having to honor my decision.
    Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | March 14, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Christianity, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lent, Power, Privilege, Relationships, Spiritual Practice, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism
  • An assortment of brightly colored holiday sweaters, in profile, lined up as they hang together
    An adequate Christmas would have you calm and open, taking it in, accepting whatever is. Slow it all down like you might be, in some way, attuned to the pace of the Eternal. If you need, you can fake it at first.
    Reflection | By Jake Morrill | November 29, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Advent, Balance, Challenge, Choice, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Courage, Direct Experience, Family, God, Self-Care, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice / Yule
  • Inside of a school gymnasium, red-white-&-blue curtains hang along a string of voting booths, with some voters visible.
    Help us to live in peace together and serve one another and to see the holy light in everyone, even when those holy lights are especially hard to see.
    Reflection | By Daniel Gregoire | November 2, 2016 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), America, Choice, Democracy, Direct Experience, Discernment, Humanism, Secular
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