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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 - 20 of 25

  • Four people with their backs to the camera stand shoulder-to-shoulder, their arms around each other, as they look into a beautiful sunny vista.
    Appreciation and deep witness are beautiful gateways for returning to our most authentic selves.
    Reflection | By Jami Yandle | March 6, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Compassion, Friendship, Humanism, Interdependence, Listening, Love, Vulnerability, Worship
  • With a blurred gym in the background, a white person with short hair holds a handweight out from her body, so that it's the center of the picture's focus.
    Remind me that success is not the only measure of a life.
    Reflection | By Amanda Poppei | January 31, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Compassion, Failure, Humanism, Secular, Self-Respect, Vulnerability, Worship
  • A Black woman with short-cropped hair helps an older woman walk down stairs.
    Building relationships requires the risk of being open and curious.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | November 22, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Community, Compassion, Connections, Healing, Humanism, Love, Mental Health, Relationships, Secular, Trauma, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • A person sits on a medical examination table, wearing a medical exam gown. Their head isn't visible but their feet dangle off the end and their arms hold the table tensely.
    Sometimes we need someone to witness the pain in holy stillness.
    Reflection | By Jo VonRue | October 18, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Body, Compassion, Direct Experience, Gender, Ministry, Presence, Sexuality, Trauma, Worship
  • From above, the back of a person's head as they sit in meditation and use a Tibetan singing bowl.
    I have struggled forgiving myself for not knowing how to create appropriate boundaries.
    Reflection | By Lynette Yetter | September 20, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Buddhism, Compassion, Forgiveness, Journey, Relationships, Spiritual Practice, Worship
  • A bustling train platform, with passengers and lit signs in Japanese and English, at the Shinjuku station.
    If I’m not cultivating an open heart and watching for the helpers, the teachers, and the angels, I may miss them when I need them the most.
    Reflection | By Sue Ferguson | May 24, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Caring, Character, Compassion, Direct Experience, Gratitude, Hospitality, Trust, Worship
  • With a snow-covered landscape visible outside, a bird trapped inside of a window flaps its wings.
    In our times of need, may we each be saved by hope, connection, and love.
    Reflection | By Lynn Gardner | April 26, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Compassion, Salvation, Worship
  • A candid black-and-white shot at night, looking through window of nearby pizza parlour. Two workers are seen from behind as they prepare food.
    There is no such thing as unskilled labor.
    Reflection | By Sarah Skochko | August 31, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), America, Compassion, Dignity, Human Rights, Humanism, Labor Day, Secular, Work, Worship
  • From behind, the silhouette of a U.S. Marine in dress uniform with a blue sky and a few clouds
    None of us are mission-making machines.
    Reflection | By Susan Maginn | May 18, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Leadership, Military, Ministry, Secular, Vulnerability, Worship
  • A mother and daughter, holding hands, walk on a path through a forest. They are smiling at one another, and are seen from behind.
    May we forever perceive the ways we can empower others.
    Reflection | By Sara Palmer | March 23, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Children, Coming-of-Age, Compassion, Growth, Parents, Power, Worship
  • A person in a medical coat, mask, and gloves braces themselves on a balcony, head bowed as though in prayer.
    May we release ourselves from the need to fit every truth neatly into our own language.
    Reflection | By Sally Fritsche | November 24, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Atheism, Compassion, Direct Experience, Discernment, Empathy, Ministry, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Worship
  • Two hands, of dark skin color, reach to each other. Each hand holds a jigsaw puzzle piece with half of a red heart on it, suggesting that the two pieces fit together perfectly.
    I learned that love and support can be expressed in many different ways by different people.
    Reflection | By Ndidi Achebe | July 7, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Community, Compassion, Direct Experience, Fear, Humanism, Limitations, Love, Relationships, Worship
  • Travelers on an airport escalator, taken from the top looking down.
    It’s through our shared interdependence that we are sheltered and saved.
    Reflection | By Karen G. Johnston | May 10, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Compassion, Connections, Fear, Interdependence, Relationships, Service, Worship
  • A whisk and dustpan filled with dry twigs, fallen spruce needles, and broken Christmas ornaments
    This is a "love saves" story.
    Reflection | By Paul S Sawyer | December 9, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Advent, Anger, Children, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Living Our Faith, Love, Psychology, Relationships, Respect, Responsibility, Self-Respect, Worship
  • A pair of muddy arms reaches up to push a muddy foot, as if helping someone climb a wall.
    Years ago, I did one of those mud run obstacle races. There were eight physical obstacles on the course, but my biggest learning was that we all had a ninth obstacle.
    Reflection | By Laura Solomon | March 18, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #COVID19, Community, Compassion, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Relationships, Self-Care
  • Seen from above, in light cast only by flames, a solitary person swings two "poi" fire weights on chains (sometimes called "fire juggling")
    We all have our foibles; pieces of ourselves that we both admire and occasionally revile. These gifts and struggles exist in tandem.
    Reflection | By Alix Klingenberg | March 4, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Body, Compassion, Direct Experience, Discernment, Self-Care, Self-Respect
  • A toddler pouts in the background, while a plate of grapes with a corndog occupies the foreground.
    When I internalize cultural messages about the definitions of success or failure—or anything, really—I undermine my own sense of self-worth.
    Reflection | By HP Rivers | April 3, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Children, Compassion, Family, Food, Forgiveness, Grace, Letting Go, Limitations, Mothers, Self-Respect
  • A small button, leaning against a rock, that says "you are beautiful"
    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.
    Reflection | By Elea Kemler | February 13, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Acceptance, Beauty, Body, Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Integrity, Love, Relationships, Self-Care, Self-Respect
  • As an ocean wave splashes, a surfboard and a pair of legs are shown mid-wipeout.
    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?
    Reflection | By Kat Liu | August 8, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Character, Children, Compassion, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Friendship, Humility, Kindness, Love, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Self-Care, Self-Respect
  • rainbow mosaic
    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.
    Reflection | By S.J. Butler | May 30, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Acceptance, Children, Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Mothers, Multiculturalism, Parents, Secular
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