Join the Ethical Society of Northern Westchester on Sunday, September 10th at 11am for opening platform: “Getting Through the Night: One Humanist’s Personal Perspective.” Leader Bob Berson will speak about some of the times he has experienced suffering, stress, and sorrow and about what humanist attitudes have helped get me through the nights (and days) of difficulty and even despair.

Come to the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County on Sunday, September 10th, 11am for it’s season opening platform “The Art of Flourishing.” In several decades of studying, practicing and teaching Western psychotherapeutic and Eastern meditative disciplines, Dr. Jeffrey Rubin has discovered that combining both paths is profoundly more effective than following just one approach. In his book, The Art of Flourishing, he integrates meditative, psychotherapeutic and yogic practices to show readers how to live well and thrive, even in times of challenge. Two main aspects to his flourishing talk will focus on genuine self-care — building into our lives what helps us thrive and achieve enduring fulfillment within our relationships.

Looking forward to the Northern Virginia Ethical Society platform Sunday, September 17th, 11am on “The Ethics of Harry Potter.” The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling have delighted a world-wide audience for 20 years. What is it about this series that has captured the attention, the imagination and the love of hundreds of millions of people of all ages? Join NoVES member Amy Anderson as she explores the moral foundations of these books and argues that the Harry’s moral compass and moral failings are major components of the books’ overwhelming success.

Gather at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County Sunday, September 10th, 11am to hear “Humanism’s Farther Reaches” by Leader Joe Chuman. Anyone awake to the world knows that the public arena has grown very fractious — dangerously so. Public conversation has become raw and coarse and our sensibilities are continuously assaulted. It is also a time when common national visions are sundered and fragmented. Beyond the need to actively resist the political forces that threaten us, we need to stay the course and renew our dedication to Ethical Culture’s deepest values. We need to do this not only to preserve our own equanimity, but as an answer to the madness that swirls around us.