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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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  • A white nationalist, wearing body armor with a white nationalist symbol, stands in front of a line of religious leaders, some wearing Side with Love garb, at the Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally (August 12, 2017).
    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
  • A neon pink triangle and "Silence = Death" in the glass wall of the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC.
    Help me live in gratitude for the LGBTQ+ ancestors who paved this road we walk and roll on.
    Reflection | By Li Kynvi | June 9, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Identity, Justice, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Pride Sunday, Worship
  • Cropped shot of a woman relaxing in a chair with a book and a cup of tea
    I feel sad to lose a spiritual practice that I can now recognize, honor, and appreciate.
    Reflection | By Rayla D. Mattson | June 2, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Direct Experience, Letting Go, Secular, Worship
  • A U.S. Army Honor Guard in dress uniform lower a coffin into the ground.
    Memorial Day is not to be celebrated. It is to be observed, scrutinized, and witnessed on behalf of the true witnesses of our human failure to love our neighbor as ourselves.
    Reflection | By George A Tyger | May 26, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: America, Death, Direct Experience, Family, Grief, Memorial Day, Military, Sacrifice, Secular, Service, Worship
  • Several people wearing masks stand, in church, holding out their hands as if in prayer.
    Committing to right relationship means being willing to revise our practices when we learn that previously accepted habits might be harmful.
    Reflection | By Christine Slocum | May 19, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #COVID19, Body, Community, 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
  • In a kitchen, a mother with an iPod and headphones dances and sings while her teenage daughter also dances.
    Spirit of Life, remind me to release that which no longer serves me so that I may be present to joy.
    Reflection | By Katie Romano Griffin | May 5, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Children, Family, Generations, Home, Mothers, Parents, Worship
  • Against a black background, a white egg rests on its side. A second egg, standing on its end, has had its top removed and green sprout grows out of the egg.
    I am no longer a victim of change: I am shaping the world that is to come.
    Reflection | By Martha Durkee-Neuman | April 28, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Beginnings, Change, Direct Experience, Ending, God, Patience, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Resilience, Worship
  • A scattering of hardware--nuts, bolts, screws, and washers--on a surface, and some of them clustering around a large circular magnet.
    May we be with one another in solidarity and struggle.
    Reflection | By Tuli Patel | April 21, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Family, Hope, Secular, Solidarity, Worship
  • A black-and-white photo, taken from above, of the photographer's legs outstreched over water, and his young son nestled on top of his legs.
    Sometimes love is simply letting someone else like what they like.
    Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | April 14, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Children, Connections, Direct Experience, Fathers, Generations, Joy, Love, Parents, Searching, Worship
  • In a grocery store, a person wearing a mask looks off-camera while two other masked shoppers shop behind them
    May I have the wisdom to be curious when I find myself grumbling about “them.”
    Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | April 7, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #COVID19, 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Conflict, Conscience, Healing, Humanism, Integrity, Relationships, Secular, Self-Respect, Worship
  • Outdoors, and seen from behind, a person with short gray hair wears a colorful hat with tulle and pink flowers.
    A triumph of love over death is the core of the Easter message.
    Reflection | By Rachel Lonberg | March 31, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Beauty, Christianity, Death, Easter, Joy, Love, Worship
  • A sharp, gleaming fish hook lies on the edge of a boat, with a body of water visible in the background.
    Spirit of Life and Love, help me to notice when I am hooked.
    Reflection | By Shari Woodbury | March 17, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Buddhism, Contemplation, Mindfulness, Patience, Spiritual Practice, Worship
  • At the edge of the woods, with bare trees, the back of someone's head as they hold binoculars up to their face.
    Maybe hope is fleeting. It leaves and returns again; there’s beauty in its impermanence.
    Reflection | By Jessica Clay | March 10, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Animals, Contemplation, Earth, Earth-Centered, Nature, Presence, Secular, Winter, Worship
  • On a bed of rocks, an empty pink snail shell has a small hole. Purple flowers rest nearby.
    My broken is what makes me who I am today.
    Reflection | By Paula Gribble | February 24, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Beauty, Brokenness, Wholeness, Worship
  • A woman slighty bows her head as a priest's hand moves away, having just left a cross of ashes on her forehead.
    Impermanence, mortality, ashes, dust: this is the truth of being human.
    Reflection | By Lora Brandis | February 17, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Christianity, Death, Discernment, Grief, Humility, Lent, Love, Spiritual Practice, Worship
  • A black man in a dark space looks sideways into the camera. Across his face, in colored light, the letters A G C T represent DNA nucleotides.
    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
  • A person's hand, in motion, hovers above an "emergency stop" button
    I’m part of a covenantal community and when a covenant gets broken, it’s my responsibility to name that break, with kindness and the intention of healing, and to call us back into right relationship.
    Reflection | By Julica Hermann de la Fuente | February 3, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: #SideWithLove, Worship
  • A black person's hand, holding a pen over a blank notebook.
    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
  • A Black woman, with her back to the camera, speaks into a microphone in front of a large audience outdoors, which appears to be a rally or protest.
    Black Queens saved our democracy. We owe them a great deal.
    Reflection | By Carol Thomas Cissel | January 20, 2021 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: America, Democracy, Humanism, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Women, Work, Worship
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