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Braver/Wiser: Courage and Compassion for Life as It Is
Braver/Wiser
Braver/Wiser
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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!

 

  • Finding Our Way Out

    A vibrant green broad-billed hummingbird sits on an outstretched human palm
    Finding Our Way Out
    Surrender is the last thing, often the only thing, available. And so we give ourselves to it. We fear it is our end. Sometimes—with grace or luck—we find it is our liberation.
    By Karen G. Johnston | 1/23/2019
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  • Big Shoes to Fill

    From the arms down, a toddler leaves footprints on the beach, her back to the camera.
    Big Shoes to Fill
    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.
    By Rayla D. Mattson | 1/16/2019
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  • Love's Hiding Place

    A person silhoutted against window blinds talks on the phone
    Love's Hiding Place
    My soul nudged me from a hiding place to confess and to seek forgiveness, and only through the grace of the Great Mystery of Life unfolding around us did I receive the blessing of journeying with a beloved, grieving friend.
    By Rebekah Savage | 1/9/2019
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  • Quitting

    A pile of empty green and brown wine and liquor bottles.
    Quitting
    Once I quit drinking, my inner voice and I began the harder work: that of creating a life from which I do not need or want to escape.
    By Alix Klingenberg | 1/2/2019
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  • Too Much of Everything

    A young child curled up on a couch, her head buried in her hands
    Too Much of Everything
    In real life, sometimes grief looms largest in December. Sometimes there's one too many dress-ups and the gold tulle makes your legs itch. “I just needed it to stop for a minute. Next time I will take calm breaths.”
    By Misha Sanders | 12/19/2018
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  • Hope Is Currency

    At a beach, with the ocean in the distance, a scraggly tree is decked out in Christmas ornaments
    Hope Is Currency
    There's nothing simple about the holidays. Joy can feel empty when it is compulsory. The promise of liberation is hard fought and well earned.
    By Alex Haider-Winnett | 12/12/2018
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  • Radical Expectations

    A conceptual photograph showing the silhouette of a person pulling back a curtain of darkness to reveal a new, better world.
    Radical Expectations
    Advent is about expectation—radical expectations that undo the status quo—and anticipation: a skillful search for the places where liberation rises from the ashes.
    By Robin Tanner | 12/5/2018
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  • To Break Our Hearts Open

    A content kitten rests its chin on an outstretched hand.
    To Break Our Hearts Open
    What, exactly, are we doing when we invite love into our lives? Surely we know that it's much tidier without it, when things stay at a distance.
    By Amanda Poppei | 11/28/2018
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  • A Cause for Thanksgiving?

    The feet and legs of several members of the Narragansett tribe, in traditional dress, at their 2012 pow-wow.
    A Cause for Thanksgiving?
    Something new could come out of this moment of discomfort; something like healing. This is our opportunity to reimagine what Thanksgiving could be — and who we could be.
    By Daniel Gregoire | 11/21/2018
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  • The Kindness of Others

    A Black woman, sitting on a couch, smiles as she opens a box.
    The Kindness of Others
    A white woman pulled over and ran over to me with a shopping bag. She noticed that I never have on a coat and I often stand in the rain. She didn’t know if the things would fit, but the receipt was in the bag. She smiled and drove away. As I looked down at the bag, I had very...
    By Rayla D. Mattson | 11/14/2018
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  • Love Does Not Disappear

    The corner of a gravestone, which is bedecked with toys and flowers and a fake butterfly stuck in the grass.
    Love Does Not Disappear
    In the eighteen years I’ve served as minister of my small-town congregation, I have led 96 memorial services, most for people I have loved. The longer I stay, the deeper I love and the more I grieve.
    By Elea Kemler | 10/31/2018
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  • Out of the Spiritual Fog

    A crowd of concert-goers, in silhouette, against the bright colors and band on a stage.
    Out of the Spiritual Fog
    God is not a distant force, far away. God is in the beating of our hearts and the backbeat of a funky baseline. God is in a four-on-the-floor drum fill, and in the achy joints and sore muscles the day after.
    By Alex Haider-Winnett | 10/24/2018
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  • Worthy of Love

    In a kiln, a red glow of fire holds the shape of a ceramic pot.
    Worthy of Love
    What had to die was my shame: my belief that I was not worthy of such love. I discovered a greater love within myself as a creation of God, worthy of these gifts.
    By Rebekah Savage | 10/17/2018
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  • Blessed Are the Magic-Makers

    Two children run -- one is mid-jump -- through an alley, smiling.
    Blessed Are the Magic-Makers
    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.
    By Teresa Honey Youngblood | 10/10/2018
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  • The Storm

    A large wave crashes against a metal structure, with icebergs in the distance
    The Storm
    Emotional tempests aren’t always easy to weather — pain, grief, disappointment, even love — but the flatness of life without such currents is the slow silence of drowning.
    By Lindasusan Ulrich | 10/3/2018
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  • The Compliment

    In a dark room, a circle of blurred people holding hands while also holding candles.
    The Compliment
    I trusted the woman at the pharmacy to be capable of hearing hard truth. Bless her wounded heart with its internalized misogyny. She just wants women to love and support each other. Thank you. Me too.
    By Misha Sanders | 9/26/2018
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  • Amen-Peanut Butter-Eyeballs

    From above, seven people hold hands around a table before eating.
    Amen-Peanut Butter-Eyeballs
    Our family prays at mealtime to practice gratitude in our lives. I love that my children are taking it as their own, finding their own meaning.
    By Christian Schmidt | 9/19/2018
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  • Angry Birds

    A large seagull, wings outspread against a blue sky, gazes down at the photographer
    Angry Birds
    Who are the angry birds in my life? Do I avoid opportunities in fear of risks? What are the sticks I carry in my heart so as not to be hurt again?
    By Yuri Yamamoto | 9/12/2018
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  • The Beauty Spilling Out

    From behind, the shoulders and heads of a mother and toddler gazing into a pond. Both are wearing Minnie Mouse ears.
    The Beauty Spilling Out
    It's an impulse of the human self to be known fully, and that’s almost never possible unless we risk the conversations that help us see past our initial impressions.
    By Amanda Poppei | 9/5/2018
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  • Fear Can't Last Forever

    In a dark room, a lighted mobile over a baby's crib throws colored stars of light onto the walls.
    Fear Can't Last Forever
    This is a story of in-the-middle for those wondering how their story ends.
    By Robin Tanner | 8/29/2018
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