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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”If we don’t find a way to transform our pain, we will always transmit it to those around us or turn it against ourselves… If your religion is not teaching you how to recognize, hold, and transform suffering, it is junk religion.” —Fr. Richard Rohr People are in pain all around us, all of...Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | May 10, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Brokenness, Buddhism, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Healing, Mystery, Pain, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism -
I long for progressive religious communities that are confessing communities—places where we admit our wrongdoings, are held accountable, and called back into covenant.Reflection | By Robin Tanner | May 3, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Character, Christianity, Community, Conscience, Direct Experience, Honesty, Humility -
What's my favorite weather? When the wind whips your face, you're alive, and you can think what you will.Reflection | By Jake Morrill | April 26, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Diversity, Humanism, Individualism, Integrity, Purpose, Searching, Secular, Work -
We humans have both a natural desire and a spiritual need to feel connected and to grow roots, even if those roots aren't necessarily tied to a geographic place.Reflection | By Marisol Caballero | April 19, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Character, Commitment, Direct Experience, Discernment, Family, Home, Humanism, Identity, Secular -
“We are not primarily put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.” — Author unknown Standing roadside, stranded, watching thousands of dollars rise in the smoke coming from under the hood, it’s easier to fight about who forgot to put oil in the car than to...Reflection | By Teresa Honey Youngblood | April 12, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anger, Community, Conflict, Self-Respect -
"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and...Reflection | By Daniel Gregoire | April 5, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser -
We are sometimes selfish, sometimes complicit with systems that do harm, sometimes the cause of pain and injustice. Until we can hold compassion for ourselves and others—until we can be forgiving when we fall short—our love is incomplete.Reflection | By Sean Parker Dennison | March 29, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Brokenness, Compassion, Conscience, Direct Experience, Disability, Growth, Honesty, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Secular, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism, Vulnerability -
Believe that further shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracle And cures and healing wells. —Seamus Heaney, “The Cure at Troy” With a name like mine, it’s easy to guess I’m Irish. My forebears were among the millions who struggled to escape Ireland’s disastrous Potato...Reflection | By Maureen Killoran | March 22, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Direct Experience, Family, Generations, History, Hope, Immigration -
There we were, two strangers idling at the red light―but I felt seen, and blessed, by a stranger.Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | March 15, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Healing, Hope, Humanism, Illness, Interdependence, Kindness, Mystery, Secular -
"The soul is made of love and must ever strive to return to love. Therefore, it can never find rest nor happiness in other things. It must lose itself in love. By its very nature, it must seek God, who is love." —Mechthild of Magdeburg, 13th century Germany For twelve years, Daisy has been the...Reflection | By Jake Morrill | March 8, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Animals, Christianity, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, God, Imagination, Lent, Love, Nature, Presence, Sacred, Searching, Unitarian Universalism -
“Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.” —Alice Walker I had finally begun to relax—a bit. We were en route to Pennsylvania. My friend, a formal part of our “framily,” was visiting. We decided a visit to a crayon factory was the perfect winter outing for toddlers. The day was clear...Reflection | By Robin Tanner | March 1, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Atheism, Conflict, Contemplation, Direct Experience, Faith, Humanism, Humility, Personal Stories, Searching, Secular, Wisdom -
I've come to view playing—intentionally seeking joy—as a means of radical resistance.Reflection | By Marisol Caballero | February 22, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser -
With whom do you believe your lot is cast? From where does your strength come? —Adrienne Rich Ethical question (although this really happened): You are in a local grocery store. An elderly, poorly-dressed white lady is pushing a cart, moving with obvious difficulty as she adds to her hoard first...Reflection | By Maureen Killoran | February 15, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser -
Over my head, I hear music in the air; over my head, I hear music in the air; over my head, I hear music in the air; there must be a God somewhere. —from "Over My Head," an African American Spiritual When you grow up in New York City, as I did, you'll learn one cardinal rule: to never look up.Reflection | By Daniel Gregoire | February 8, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser -
It's in one tiny moment in time / for life to shine to shine Burn away the darkness You've got one tiny moment in time / for life to shine to shine To burn away the darkness I will be light. — “I Will Be Light” by Matisyahu About six months ago, I got a new tattoo. It’s a lit match on my...Reflection | By Sean Parker Dennison | February 1, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Activism, Anger, Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Despair, Direct Experience, Humanism, Identity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Secular -
“Empathy is not finite, and compassion is not a pizza with eight slices. When you practice empathy and compassion with someone, there is not less of these qualities to go around. There’s more. Love is the last thing we need to ration in this world. The refugee in Syria doesn’t benefit more if...Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | January 25, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Abundance, Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Listening, Love, Pain, Secular, Self-Care, Sorrow -
“Suddenly summoned to witness something great and horrendous, we kept fighting not to reduce it to our own smallness.” —John Updike, “Tuesday, and After,” The New Yorker, September 24, 2001 We sat on the back steps watching transfixed as hundreds of rust-red spiders, big as thumbs, dropped...Reflection | By Teresa Honey Youngblood | January 18, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Balance, Brokenness, Courage, Despair, Direct Experience, Earth-Centered, Hope, Nature, Solidarity, Unity, Violence -
.I want liberty and justice for all in my country. That will ask of me—and of many of you—the discipline of discomfort.Reflection | By Jake Morrill | January 11, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), America, Challenge, Change, Democracy, Direct Experience, Humanism, Integrity, Politics, Secular, Strength -
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ―Albert Einstein This was not my plan for January 1st, 2017: disheveled, wearing a pair of pajamas, and with unbrushed teeth at the pediatric urgent care in New...Reflection | By Robin Tanner | January 4, 2017 | From Braver/Wiser -
I am ever grateful for the friends who are my family; who have pieced me together each time I’ve fallen apart; who laugh, cry, dream, and age happily by my side.Reflection | By Marisol Caballero | December 28, 2016 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Acceptance, Caring, Child Dedication, Children, Family, Fathers, Forgiveness, Generations, Humanism, International, Mothers, Secular