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 - 15 of 15

  • When someone lists Unitarians or Universalists, they usually name white men. Never anyone Black like me.
    Reflection | By Connie Simon | February 28, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Generations, History, Identity, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Respect, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Worship
  • From the beginning, the story of Black people in America has been told through the lens of white supremacy.
    Reflection | By Bev Spears | February 21, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, Generations, History, Justice, Race/Ethnicity, Truth, Worship
  • If you’re seeking sacred Black “text” in our tradition, you have to examine the way our Black ancestors lived.
    Reflection | By Takiyah Nur Amin | February 7, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Anti-Oppression, Covenant, Generations, History, Identity, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Worship
  • Spirit and Breath, create an openness that violence has constricted.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | October 4, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anger, Body, Earth, Healing, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • Let us be grateful for the vital force that wakes us and moves us.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | January 25, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, America, Body, Generations, Love, Race/Ethnicity, Worship
  • I rise on the shoulders of ancestors whose names I can not know.
    Reflection | By Glen Thomas Rideout | September 14, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Oppression, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Self-Respect, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • In order to be welcoming, the systems of power and privilege in our spaces need to be actively dismantled.
    Reflection | By Shannon Lang | September 29, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Diversity, Equity, Hospitality, Humanism, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • Do we who are UUs really believe in the values of our faith enough to enact to them in bold, clear, and unequivocal ways?
    Reflection | By Takiyah Nur Amin | June 23, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #8thPrinciple, #BlackLivesMatter, 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), America, Anti-Oppression, Conflict, Direct Experience, Division, Equity, Justice, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • I've adopted the practice of spiritual reconnection with my ancestors to heal intergenerational trauma.
    Reflection | By Jabari S. Jones | February 10, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, Diversity, Generations, Healing, History, International, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Transformation, Trauma, Worship
  • I named the truth as I perceived it, because it didn’t feel like there was any other option.
    Reflection | By Aisha Ansano | January 27, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, #SideWithLove, Direct Experience, Living Our Faith, Truth, Worship
  • Learning to love all of me—including the parts I used to be scared of—made the fear go away.
    Reflection | By Ndidi Achebe | October 28, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Family, Mental Health, Race/Ethnicity, Self-Care, Self-Respect, Worship
  • None of us would be here were it not for those who lived and won a fight that they were not meant to survive.
    Reflection | By Daniel Gregoire | September 23, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Humanism, Justice, Living Our Faith, Race/Ethnicity, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • Our conversations about the history of our country—the actions of our ancestors—can be made new and relevant and understandable. We can and must have these conversations.
    Reflection | By Heather Rion Starr | June 17, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Activism, America, Children, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Humanism, Parents, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility, Secular, Unitarian Universalism
  • May we all remember how inextricably we are linked in this fight for justice and freedom.
    Reflection | By Otto O’Connor | June 10, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Direct Experience, Generations, History, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Race/Ethnicity, Responsibility, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
  • My mother and father armed us with this truth: The world is awful, magnificent, and belongs to you as much as it belongs to anyone else.
    Reflection | By Carol Thomas Cissel | June 3, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #BlackLivesMatter

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