How shall we meet?

Having specified a simple format for Sunday meetings and having made it clear that ritual and formalism were not to be part of those meetings in his Founding Address, Felix Adler had some specific thoughts about what would go on in a meeting:  mostly lectures and some music.  While Adler didn't actually say "but not a sermon," he did assure his audience (and us) that he did not intend that there would be a need for a "priestly office after a new fashion."

Adler did clarify that all these lectures should have a purpose:

First, to illustrate the history of human aspirations, its monitions and its examples; to trace the origin of many of those errors of the past whose poisonous tendrils still cling to the life of the present, but also to exhibit its pure and bright examples, and so to enrich the little sphere of our earthly existence by showing the grander connections in which it everywhere stands with the large life of the race. . . . Secondly, it will be the object of the lecturers to set forth a standard of duty, to discuss our practical duties in the practical present, to make clear the responsibilities which our nature as moral beings imposes on us in view of the political and social evils of our age, and also to dwell upon those high and tender consolations which the modern view of life does not fail to offer us even in the midst of anguish and affliction.

Hoo boy!  So history, religion, philosophy, human nature, standards, duty, responsibilities--no easy path does Friend Felix lay down for us.   Plus music.

How does this play out 140 years later?  In Austin, the Ethical Society meets most Sundays (did I mention that before?) if the meeting space is available (we are looking for new meeting space, in case you know of anything).  Meetings are said to be either a Platform (lecture) or Colloquy (discussion).  Sometimes they are a mix of the two.  Lectures can be presented by members or guests; colloquies are lead by our Program Chair (Adam Gravois) and quickly turned into a group activity.

There is, however, more.  Come early and share coffee and conversation.  A chance to meet and greet, touch base on Society business, get to know fellow members a little better.  Come even earlier and help set things up.  Arrange chairs, make the coffee, set out the songbooks, get to know fellow members a little better.

A single chime will halt the busyness of these activities (but not the coffee), and we all take our seats and focus on the day's leader and our purpose in meeting.  This is the point at which someone--whoever the day's leader may ask to do so in the moments before the meeting begins--and it varies--reads a statement of purpose.  We have several variants of these statements, so the reader chooses which he or she may want to read.  All of them, I have to point out, are powerful and inspiring words that help us remember why we are present and what we need to be doing during the meeting.

The leader makes or calls for a few announcements about upcoming events or decisions that the Board has made.  Then we are all called to consider whether there have been matters of ethical concern that we have encountered during the previous week.  This is an opportunity to examine ourselves and our week--if we have not already done so--to consider where there have been conflicts or victories in the values that matter to us.  We can recount what the issue was and how we resolved it or ask the group to help us figure out a resolution.  From ethical conflicts and concerns the leader then guides us to talk about "concerns or joys."  These are usually brief statements from members which range from the revelation of a happy or sad event in the previous week to a broader statement of personal concern about state-national-international events and trends.

Once everyone who needs to speak about these more individual-but-now-shared-matters has done so, the day's leader calls for another just-appointed volunteer (again, it varies) to light the lantern.  I'll write more about what follows in another post (or posts!).

For now, it's worth considering that this early part of an Ethical Society meeting is a reflection of the early part of Adler's Founding Address.  While he was trying to establish an organization that met weekly to discuss serious and high matters, he prefaced the establishment with a review of the current situation in our nation.  In some ways, the Ethical Society is doing the same by opening the floor in an entirely democratic fashion to all--members and visitors alike--to present their awareness of ethical conflicts in our society and in our personal relations as well as evaluations of life and public events that have impressed themselves upon individual consciousness and conscience.  As Adler laid out the context for ethical culture, so we lay out the context for our own small community's attempt to live better lives and make the world a better place.  The effect, from my perspective, is a closer sense of community and a better understanding of how we can help each other be and do . . . better.