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Essay 3: Albert Schweitzer's Affirmations of Reverence for Life |
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Schweitzer found Reverence for Life when he found
Lambarene and lived in Lambarene.
It remains for us, then, to evaluate for ourselves these
affirmations of Reverence for Life. I do not anticipate that
many of us will emulate Schweitzer by encountering and
entertaining our own family of ants, but what shall we do?
How shall we understand the challenges of moral goodness,
evil, and ethics in the world? How shall we see ourselves in
the context of other living beings in the world? How shall
we assume our responsibilities, and act upon our
responsibilities, in a world of painful and perplexing
ambiguities? Finally, our consideration of Schweitzer's
understanding of Reverence for Life may become a call to
us, not unlike the call that Schweitzer describes at the end
of
The Quest of the Historical Jesus
, the call to which he
responded by going to live and work in Africa. This call
has been issued, in different places and different times, by
Buddha, by Mahavira, by Jesus, and by others, and in
Schweitzer this call is a call to ethical action. How do we
understand Reverence for Life? How shall we affirm life
and Reverence for Life? How shall we find our own
Lambarene?
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Albert Schwietzer's Autobiography: