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 - 6 of 6

  • 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
  • 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.
    Reflection | By Rebekah Savage | October 17, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Brokenness, Death, Direct Experience, Islam, Love, Pain, Relationships, Self-Respect
  • 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.
    Reflection | By Lindasusan Ulrich | October 3, 2018 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Hope, Pain
  • ”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/Wiser
    Tagged as: Brokenness, Buddhism, Compassion, Connections, Direct Experience, Healing, Mystery, Pain, Spiritual Practice, Spirituality, Unitarian Universalism
  • “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/Wiser
    Tagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Abundance, Caring, Compassion, Direct Experience, Humanism, Listening, Love, Pain, Secular, Self-Care, Sorrow
  • December 7, 2016 “Use loneliness. Its ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world.” — Natalie Goldberg I know a little about "merry" meeting "mess" at the holidays — and by a little I mean How much time have you got? Four Christmases ago, a painful break-up sent me spinning into a long...
    Reflection | By Erika Hewitt | December 7, 2016 | From Braver/Wiser
    Tagged as: Advent, Brokenness, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Commitment, God, Healing, Hope, Pain, Sadness, Spiritual Practice

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