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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 40

  • 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
  • A cropped photo of a person with a wrist tattoo with upturned hands lightly holding the hands of another person, sitting knee-to-knee with them.
    Scorekeeping is about who hurts whom more. In the long-term, no one wins.
    Reflection | By Anne Griffiths | February 14, 2024 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Commitment, Humanism, Love, Marriage, Men, Psychology, Relationships, Secular, Teamwork, Trust, Women, Work, 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
  • At a March For Our Lives event, a protester is seen from behind wearing a very large sign that says #Enough
    How can I be love instead of being anger and fear?
    Reflection | By DeEtte Waleed | March 29, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Disaster or Crisis, Integrity, Love, Violence, Worship
  • A child sits at a desk, reading, while in the background a teacher observes her.
    Love shows up in complicated conversations.
    Reflection | By Jo VonRue | February 1, 2023 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Children, Direct Experience, Love, Poverty, Shame, Worship
  • A small Black girl smiles, sitting at a table. Next to her, back to the camera, is a man we imagine to be her grandfather.
    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
  • A broad, green leaf held by a Black woman's hands. A small tattoo of a heart is on her wrist.
    Love is reaching through the generations with expectations that I live through challenging times.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | November 2, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Direct Experience, Earth, Fall, Family, Generations, Healing, Love, Presence, Worship
  • A few dog paw prints in the sand
    My vet said, “She's telling you thank you for letting her go.”
    Reflection | By Ndidi Achebe | October 12, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Animal Memorial, Animals, Death, Direct Experience, Grief, Letting Go, Love, Secular, Worship
  • An illustration, in tones of peach and pink, of a spiral of people holding hands, as seen from above.
    We must choose each other again and again, though conflict and through plenty.
    Reflection | By Abbey Tennis | June 29, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Conflict, Discernment, Love, Reconciliation, Relationships, Worship
  • a pink heart, apparently drawn on chalk, on a badly cracked concret surface
    We are an angry and beautiful people.
    Reflection | By Laura Solomon | June 1, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Connections, Direct Experience, Disaster or Crisis, Fear, Humanism, Love, Suffering, Unitarian Universalism, Worship
  • Seen from high above, a human crowd forms two hands and a heart shape on white background
    You can crush Love down, bury it, cover it over, but it will rise.
    Reflection | By Molly Housh Gordon | April 6, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Christianity, Community, Easter, Love, Mystery, Purpose, Worship
  • In a yoga studio, called Fat Yoga, seven people move into a powerful pose on their yoga mats.
    To understand that my humanity and my abundant flesh both demand dignity is to embrace fat liberation.
    Reflection | By Andrew Tripp | January 19, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Acceptance, Body, Fat Liberation, Love, Self-Respect, Worship
  • Two Black women pack toys into a box, as though preparing a donation
    Every time someone showed up for me, I learned that love is greater than skin deep.
    Reflection | By Melissa Jeter | January 12, 2022 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Challenge, Choice, Direct Experience, Discernment, Living Our Faith, Love, Pain, Parents, Relationships, 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
  • 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
  • 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 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 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 black parent embraces their child, who is smiling in to the camera
    One day, I’ll have to care for my mother as she once cared for me. I’m not ready to handle the truth that our relationship must change.
    Reflection | By Erica Shadowsong | September 9, 2020 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Caring, Child Dedication, Children, Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Direct Experience, Fear, Generations, Growth, Humanism, Love, Mother's Day, Mothers, Parents, Secular, Worship
  • On a church chancel, children dressed as sheep and cows kneel during a Christmas pageant
    Every year, I tell the congregation not to worry about mistakes because there aren’t any; there is only us, telling an old story about love getting born into this aching world.
    Reflection | By Elea Kemler | December 18, 2019 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Direct Experience, Forgiveness, Love, Playfulness, Tradition, Transcendence, Unitarian Universalism
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