Ethical Addresses, Series Two (1896) Part 2

The overall content of Series Two of Ethical Addresses is moving in the direction of more specific ethical issues and more precise framing of Ethical Culture rather than the broader philosophical interest of the First Series.  One essay that caught my eye was, again, from M. M. Mangasarian:  "Our Besetting Sins."  I wrote about this platform elsewhere, so I won't extend the discussion here except to point out that statements of that period continue to have relevance in the present even if only to provide a new perspective for our current thinking.  

Adler's platform, "Consolations," can also be found in this volume.  His description of the usual consolations offered in the face of death--universality of death, sympathy for loss, time's healing hand--woke within me the recollection of those consolations in facing the loss of my late husband.  Adler's clear and objective rejection of those consolations as having any real healing power made me weep.  He continued, however, to speak of compassion for and duty toward others and the functional utility of action as a source of healing (and consolation).  The thoughts that our lost loved ones live on within us brings a feeling of awe and, yes, some healing as well.  Adler ends this platform, apparently the end of a year-long series of platforms, thusly:

           The great mistake we make is that we do not look
upon our friends in the right way while they are still
alive and present with us. We cannot think of them
rightly when they are gone, if we do not think of them
rightly while they are still living. Often we regard them
as if they were our property. We believe that they exist
for the sake of our happiness, though we admit that we
also exist for the sake of theirs. But happiness is an
ambiguous term which easily becomes misleading. We
should look upon our beloved with more of awe. Their
true ministry is to be for us Revealers of the Divine, to
teach us to estimate rightly the things that are worth
trying for and the things that are not, to help us to become
equal to the standard of our best performance, and
to grow into our own true selves. And the world is not
dark when they have departed, because what they have
revealed remains. Their influence remains. The light
of their countenance still shines upon us. And to walk
always in that light, to live in the spirit of the holy dead
—worthy of them—is the supreme consolation.  [Emphasis added.]

As is often the case with Adler, it's difficult to excerpt the core idea without bringing along a fair amount of rhetorical flourish.  I'm not so sure about "Revealers of the Divine" or "holy dead," but Adler seems to have gotten well within range of something that qualifies as a consolation for such loss.  And, of course, I wept. (What?  Tears can heal, too.)

The Bibliography for Ethical Culture is now online!  I have placed it in my own Google Drive for the time being.  I continue to seek partners in this work.  In the meantime, I gratefully acknowledge the encouragement and advice given by Louise Jett (St. Louis Society for Ethical Culture) as I have taken some of the initial steps in this project.