The original Aramaic word for “Agape”

Recently a friend loaned me a copy of the book Prayers of the Cosmos: Reflections on the Original Meaning of Jesus’s Words. It is a study of an Aramaic version of the Gospels. The author, Neil Douglas-Klotz, speculated about the Aramaic word that Jesus would have used in the statement, “Love your enemies” (Luke 6:27, 35). The assumption is the word that eventually we have translated into English as ‘love’ was ‘ahebw.’

      When I discovered that translation, I was able to finish a major step in the research that has produced this blog about agape. Of course, that means throughout the New Testament the word translated from the ancient Aramaic into Greek as ‘agape,’ was ‘ahebw.’ And just as my research showed me that ‘agape’ was not commonly used as a word for love, so Douglas-Klotz showed that ‘ahedw’ was not an Aramaic word commonly used for love.

      So I found it helpful to read what Douglas-Klotz said about ‘ahebw’ in his notes at the end of that book, Prayers of the Cosmos. In the Textual Notes (p. 85) to Luke 6:27 and 35, he compares the Aramaic word for love, ‘rahm,’ with ‘ahebw’ and he comments about ‘ahebw’: “Here one does not find the breath of compassion and mercy, but an even more mysterious impersonal force, one that acts in secret to bring separate beings together to create new life. This root has been used throughout native Middle Eastern mysticism and survives in a famous Sufi saying, ‘Mahabud lilac,’ ‘God is the receiver and giver of love, as well as the love itself.’”

      Of course, I think that’s just as much a mistranslation of the Sufi saying as “Love your enemies” is a mistranslation of the Aramaic words of Jesus. Douglas-Klotz alluded to that when he described ‘ahebw’ as a mysterious impersonal force that creates new life. 

      Because his book is about an Aramaic version of the Gospels, Douglas-Klotz did not use the Greek word ‘agape.’ But if ‘ahebw’ was the Aramaic word used by Jesus that was translated into Greek as ‘agape’ and mistranslated into the English word ‘love,’ I decided to do some altering of Douglas-Klotz quotes to fit into what I’d done with other quotes throughout this blog.  

      So because I found deeper understanding whenever the spiritual meaning of ‘love’ is replaced with ‘agape’, that ancient Sufi saying would read: ‘God is the receiver and giver of agape, as well as agape itself.’

So in the following quotes from Douglas-Klotz wherever ‘love’ is used in a spiritual/mystical sense, it was changed to ‘agape.’

“Tuned to the Source are those who shine from the deepest place in their bodies. Upon them shall be the rays of agape. Aligned with the One are those whose lives radiate from a core of agape; they shall see God everywhere. Aligned with the One are the compassionate; upon them shall be compassion.”

 “As human beings, one of the most precious things we can give one another is our complete understanding and support, each day and each moment as we are able, with all our perceived limitations included.

“Blessed are those in emotional turmoil; they shall be united inside by agape.

“From the deepest part of yourself, let agape be born for the rays of the One that shine around you. From this self liberate your whole animal energy and life force to flood your entire grasping mind with agape.

“Help us share agape beyond our ideals and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures. As we find your agape in ours, let heaven and nature form a new creation. Create in me a divine cooperation — from many selves, one voice, one action.”

The study that he gave of the word for ‘heart’ is very helpful to understand Romans 5:5 “God’s agape has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Douglas-Klotz reported:

“The word translated as ‘heart’ (‘lebak’ or ‘lebhon’), literally the center of one’s life, also carries the sense of any center from which life radiates — a sense of expansion plus generative power: vitality, desire, affection, courage, and audacity all rolled into one. In the old roots the picture is given of an interior action of creative generation that expands from the center.”

“Agape” in all people

While I was finding quotes from other religions, I decided to post them in my other blog: www.agapeworker.wordpress.com 

When I got 37 of them posted and then re-read them, I began to realize that the spiritual power referred to in Christianity with the Greek word, agape, is not limited to Christians, but is created in such a way that it’s in everyone, but with different words used to reference it. So I was able to see that when the famous theologian Paul Tillich said that in agape “ultimate reality manifests itself and transforms life and love,” he was speaking in universal terms. 

I understood Tillich to mean that the spiritual manifestation given to everyone through ultimate reality was agape, and so that manifestation has the potential of transforming all life and universal love. Such is the ultimate power of agape over all life and all love everywhere. But with all spiritual reality for humans, there is a catch. That catch involves freedom. Which means that the responsibility is placed on us. To transform the potentiality into actuality, we have to respond.

So if we can act in such a way as to allow agape power to come alive for us and for our relationships with those around us, then we can let agape transform us. This possibility is available to all.

To me, that is what Thomas Merton was referring to when he said, “Only agape can attain and preserve the good of all.”

As I have continued to reflect about that, the universal meaning has become increasingly important for my understanding of what the access to agape can do for solving the problems that are causing such destructive consequences for human interaction and international conflicts.

Short “Agape” insights from M.L. King, P. Tillich, and T. Merton

When I reflected on, and was moved by, the amazing inspiration from Martin L. King, Paul Tillich, and Thomas Merton, some of the insights stood out as more helpful than others, so what follows is a collection of those special insights.
      “When Jesus bids us to love our enemies, he is speaking neither of eros nor philia, he is speaking of agape, understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart. At this level, we love men not because we like them, nor because their ways appeal to us, nor even because they possess some type of divine spark; we love every man because God loves him. At this level, we love the person who does an evil deed, although we hate the deed that he does. Now we can see what Jesus meant when he said, ‘Love your enemies.’ Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must have agape for our enemies — or else? The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven.
      “When I speak of agape I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Agape is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.” 
                                                         …Martin Luther King

      “Agape enters from another dimension into the whole of life and into all qualities of love. One could call agape the depth of love or love in relation to the ground of life. One could say that in agape ultimate reality manifests itself and transforms life and love. Agape seeks the other one in his center. Agape sees him as God sees him.”  …Paul Tillich

      “To serve the God of agape one must be free, one must face the terrible responsibility of the decision to share agape in spite of all unworthiness whether in oneself or in one’s neighbor.
      “Only agape can attain and preserve the good of all.
      “My true identity lies hidden in God’s call to my freedom and my response to God. This means I must use my freedom in order to share agape, with full responsibility and authenticity, not merely receiving a form imposed on me by external forces, or forming my own life according to an approved social pattern but directing my agape to the personal reality of my brother, and embracing God’s will in its naked, often impenetrable mystery.” …Thomas Merton

And now here are a few of the scripture quotes that inspired the above quotes:
      “I give you a new commandment: have agape for each other. Just as I have agapan you, so you also must agapao each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you have agape for each other.” (Jn. 13:35)

      “Neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the agape of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:39)

      “Agape puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. Agape never fails. … Now faith, hope, and agape remain -- these three things -- and the greatest of these is agape.” (1 Cor. 13:13)

More “Agape” insights from the 23 postings

After waiting over a month from the last of the following 23 postings of quotes, as I read them again I’ll continue copying here some of the insights that stood out as especially spiritually helpful, so what follows is a collection of those special insights. 

(And of course, because I had started seeing in modern writing that where the spiritual meaning of love appeared, we could gain new understanding by substituting ‘agape’ for ‘love.’ So I did that in the quotes from those 23 blog postings.)

    “Spiritual power is the animation energy of agape. The light of agape is the energy and motion that have called us to prayer, allowing us to perceive at least bits of deeper reality.

    “Our hearts are like diamonds because they have the capacity to express divine light, which is agape; we not only are portals for this agape, but are made of it.

    “I felt a shift inside, the conviction that agape was having its way with me, softening me, changing my cold stone heart. The feeling grew stronger and stronger, until, unfortunately, church was over. Driving home, I tried to hold on to what I’d heard that day: that having agape for your enemies was nonnegotiable. It meant trying to respect them, it meant identifying with their humanity and weaknesses. It didn’t mean unconditional acceptance of their crazy behavior. They were still accountable for the atrocities they’d perpetrated, as you were accountable for yours. But you worked at doing better, at having agape for them, for the profoundest spiritual reason: you were trying not to make things worse.

    “We don’t transform ourselves, but when we finally hear, the Spirit has access to our hearts, and that is what changes us.

    “You are Spirit, you are agape, and even though it is hard to believe sometimes, you are free. You’re here to share agape, and to receive agape, freely.” …Anne Lamott

“First we need to turn to God, we need to feel God’s agape, we need to open our hearts to God’s agape. As we pray for others, our prayers are gradually transformed, our hearts are softened, and our eyes are opened. Once opened we can never close our eyes again. We begin to see the world through God’s eyes of agape. The process of praying for others begins with God. God already has agape for us. God is already involved in our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray. God calls us into a network of relationships with God and all of creation. When we pray for others, we respond to God’s call and become engaged with God and our sisters and brothers. Our prayer is also an expression of gratitude for God’s ongoing presence in our lives.” …Jane Vennard

    “Life is essentially about learning to share agape. When we have agape for someone from our depths — from Essence — we draw the other’s Essence out from hiding so that he or she can more easily express it.

    “It’s not easy to break free of ego identification and to share agape. When we do, we feel free and happy. And agape, freedom, and happiness are what we all have wanted all along. Agape isn’t something we can understand because its not able to be grasped by the mind. Agape is not in the mind’s or the ego’s domain. It’s a quality of Essence — of who we really are. Yet agape is where fulfillment lies and why relationships are so important to us.

    “To align yourself with Essence and experience agape and the other qualities of Essence, all you have to do is notice agape … choose agape over the ego’s ideas, and that choice brings you into alignment with Essence. From Essence agape flows.” …Gina Lake

    “God’s kingdom is agape. What does it mean to share agape? It means to be sensitive to life, to things, to persons, to feel for everything and everyone to the exclusion of nothing and no one.

    “Agape is already there within you. All you have to do is remove the blocks you place to sensitivity and it would surface.

    “What is agape? It is a sensitivity to every portion of reality within you and without, together with a wholehearted response to that reality.

    “When you are tapping into agape you find yourself looking at everyone with new eyes; you become generous, forgiving, kindhearted, where before you might have been hard and mean. Inevitably people begin reacting to you in the same way and soon you find yourself living in a loving world.” …Anthony DeMello

The word “Agape” used in the following 23 postings

Over 20 years ago, I started every morning’s meditation time by focusing on Paul’s important description of the spiritual basis of hope. When I found out that the original Greek version of Romans 5:5 did not contain what was at that time the common word for love but instead used the unusual, archaic word ‘agape,’ I used that word in meditating.

After a few months of doing that, I realized that ‘agape’ had such spiritual depth that it should be used in English versions because the English word ‘love’ has the same meaning as the Greek word that Paul purposely did not use. So the English version of Rom. 5:5 should read: “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s agape has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Of course, that gives the basis for ‘agape’ referring to a spiritual power that was created in every person’s heart.

Then I began going thru the whole New Testament and copied the scripture passages with ‘agape’ replacing ‘love’ wherever ‘agape’ appeared in the original Greek. That produced quotes like: “Nothing therefore can come between us and the agape of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. … For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the agape of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:35-39) Then I used all those reworked passages as the basis for my book, The Seven Steps of Agape Prayer.

That practice ended up giving me new insight into the famous verses in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. I finally was able to see that chapter 13 was actually Paul’s way of explaining to the little Corinthian church what ‘agape’ meant. Before that I had always wondered why Paul felt the need to explain love. Of course, he didn’t. But those Greeks in Corinth must have thought it strange that Paul had kept using an old, unused word to talk to them about spiritual power. So if we mistakingly try translating those passages with the English word ‘love,’ we miss that whole explanation that Paul was giving.

So here is the spiritual impact of what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 13: “I’m going to show you an even better way. If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have agape, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains, but I don’t have agape, I’m nothing. If I give everything that I have and hand over my body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have agape, I receive no benefit whatsoever. Agape is patient, agape is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but is happy with the truth. Agape puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. Agape never fails. … Now faith, hope, and agape remain -- these three things -- and the greatest of these is agape.” (1 Cor. 12:31-13:8, 13)

So of course, if we find places in the gospels where ‘agape’ appeared, we get such new understanding as: “I give you a new commandment: have agape for each other. Just as I have agapan you, so you also must agapao each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you have agape for each other.” (Jn. 13:34-35)

Then I started seeing in modern writing that where the spiritual meaning of love appeared, we could gain new understanding by substituting ‘agape’ for ‘love.’ So I have reproduced those quotes in the following 23 blog postings.

Agape in a MARTIN LUTHER KING sermon

Back in 2010 I wrote in this blog about Martin Luther King’s use of ‘agape.’ In his book of sermons, Strength to Love, he talked about agape, in his sermon "Loving our Enemies," when discussing the word that was used in the Greek translation of the command from Jesus about enemies. Dr. King said:

“Our responsibility as Christians is to discover the meaning of this command and seek passionately to live it out. The meaning of love [in that command from Jesus] is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. [That] love is something much deeper than emotional bosh. Perhaps the Greek language can clear our confusion at this point. In the Greek New Testament are three words for love. The word eros is a sort of aesthetic or romantic love. In the Platonic dialogues eros is a yearning of the soul for the realm of the divine. The second word is philia, a reciprocal love and the intimate affection and friendship between friends. The third word is agape, understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all. An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart.”

So I wondered how Dr. King’s words would read if in the rest of his sermon he would have used ‘agape’ instead of ‘love,’ where he meant ‘agape.’

“At this level, we share agape not because we like them, nor because their ways appeal to us, nor even because they possess some type of divine spark; we have agape for everyone because God has agape for them. At this level, we have agape for the person who does an evil deed, although we hate the deed that he does. Now we can see what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.” We should be happy that he did not say, “Like your enemies.” It is almost impossible to like some people. Jesus is speaking neither of eros nor philia, he is speaking of agape. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven.

“Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to have agape for one’s enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival. Agape even for enemies is the key to the solution of the problems of our world. Jesus is not an impractical idealist: he is the practical realist.

“When I speak of agape I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Agape is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.

“At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of agape. The nonviolent resister would contend that in the struggle for human dignity, the oppressed people of the world must not succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter or indulging in hate campaigns. To retaliate in kind would do nothing but intensify the existence of hate in the universe. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of agape to the center of our lives.

“Everywhere and at all times, the agape ethic of Jesus is a radiant light revealing the ugliness of our stale conformity.

“A vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws will bring an end to segregated public facilities which are barriers to a truly desegregated society, but it cannot bring an end to fears, prejudice, pride, and irrationality, which are the barriers to a truly integrated society. These dark and demonic responses will be removed only as men are possessed by the invisible, inner law which etches on their hearts the conviction that all men are brothers and that agape is mankind’s most potent weapon for personal and social transformation. True integration will be achieved by true neighbors who are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.

“We must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality— God and the realm of agape— to which we must be conformed. This command not to conform comes, not only from Paul, but also from our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, the world’s most dedicated nonconformist, whose ethical nonconformity still challenges the conscience of mankind.

“We must have agape for our enemies, because only then can we know God and experience the beauty of God’s holiness. The relevance of what I have said to the crisis in race relations should be readily apparent. There will be no permanent solution to the race problem until oppressed men develop the capacity to have agape for their enemies. The darkness of racial injustice will be dispelled only by the light of forgiving agape.

“Agape is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security.

“Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force, but the destructive power of modern weapons eliminates even the possibility that war may serve as a negative good. If we assume that life is worth living and that man has a right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war.”

Agape in THOMAS MERTON’s “No Man is an Island”

Because Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk, in those places in his book, No Man is an Island, where he uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way that the meaning is ‘agape,’ the word was changed to ‘agape’ in these quotes in accordance with biblical tradition.

“If I am to share agape with my brother, I must somehow enter deep into the mystery of God’s agape for him. I must be moved not only by human sympathy but by that divine sympathy which is revealed to us in Jesus and which enriches our own lives by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. I must seek the life of the Spirit of God breathing in him. And I can only discern and follow that mysterious life by the action of the same Holy Spirit living and acting in the depths of my own heart.

“My sharing agape with them must be to them the ‘sacrament’ of the mysterious and infinitely selfless agape God has for them. My action of sharing agape must be for them the minister not of my own spirit but of the Holy Spirit.

“Only agape, which is as strong and as sure as the Spirit of God, can save us from the lamentable error of pouring out on others a love that leads them into error and urges them to seek happiness where it can never be found.

“What all look for in life is our own salvation and the salvation of those we live with. By salvation I mean first of all the full discovery of who I really am. Then I mean something of the fulfillment of our own God-given powers, in having agape for others and for God. I mean also the discovery that we cannot find ourselves in ourselves alone, but that we must find ourselves in and through others. This is summed up in two lines of the Gospel: 'If any man would save his life, he must lose it,” and, “Have agape for one another as I have agape for you.' 

“The discovery of ourselves is always a losing of ourselves— a death and a resurrection.

“To find 'ourselves' then is to find not only our poor, limited, perplexed souls, but to find the power of God that raised Christ from the dead and 'built us together in Him unto a habitation of God in the Spirit' (Ephesians 2: 22).

“True happiness is found in unselfish agape, which increases in proportion as it is shared. There is no end to the sharing of agape, and, therefore, the potential happiness of agape is without limit. Infinite sharing is the law of God’s inner life.

“The gift of agape is the gift of the power and the capacity to share agape, and, therefore, to give agape with full effect is also to receive it. So, agape can only be kept by being given away, and it can only be given perfectly when it is also received.

“In order to let agape flow to others I must be true to them, to myself, and to God.

“Only agape, that senses the designs of Providence, can unite itself perfectly to God’s providential action upon souls. Faithful submission to God’s secret working in the world will fill our sharing agape with piety, that is to say with supernatural awe and respect. This respect, this piety, gives our sharing agape the character of worship, without which our acts of sharing agape can never be quite complete. For agape must not only seek the truth in the lives of those around us; it must find it there. But when we find the truth that shapes our lives we have found more than an idea. We have found a Person. We have come upon the actions of One Who is still hidden. And in that One we also find ourselves.”

Agape in THOMAS MERTON’s “New Seeds of Contemplation”

And again, in those places in his book of inspiration, New Seeds of Contemplation, where Thomas Merton uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way that the meaning is ‘agape,’ the word was changed to ‘agape’ in accordance with biblical tradition.

"It seems that the deep movements of the Spirit of God’s agape keep striving, at least lightly, to impress themselves on every one that God draws into this joyous and tranquil light. What you experience is the emptiness and purity of your own faculties, produced in you by a created effect of God’s agape. These effects are intensified by the light infused into your soul by the Spirit of God and raising it suddenly into an atmosphere of dark, breathless clarity.”


THREE MODES OF CONTEMPLATIVE BEGINNINGS: 

      (1) "a sudden emptying of the soul in which images vanish, concepts and words are silent, and clarity suddenly opens out until your whole being embraces the emptiness and unfathomable incomprehensibility of God;

      (2) "you learn to rest in an inner desert of aridity in which you can find a kind of stability and peace and the assurance of a comforting and mighty presence of God in a light that is painful;  

      (3) "you learn to find a tranquility full of savor and unction in which, although there is nothing to feed and satisfy either the senses or the imagination or the intellect, the will rests in a deep, luminous and absorbing experience of agape. This agape is like the shining cloud that enveloped the Apostles on Tabor so that they exclaimed: “Lord, it is good for us to be here!” You realize, at least in some obscure fashion, that this beautiful, deep, meaningful tranquility that floods your whole being with its truth and its substantial peace is a sign of the mission of Christ."

Agape in THOMAS MERTON’s Mystics and Zen Masters 

“Existential theologians look for a transformation of communal life by the leaven of Christian freedom and agape.

“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that Agape is the reason for my existence … Agape is my true identity … Agape is my true character. Agape is my name.”

Agape in THOMAS MERTON’s “The Pocket Thomas Merton”

Continuing in accordance with biblical tradition, whenever the Trappist monk Thomas Merton uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way that the meaning is ‘agape,’ the word was changed to ‘agape’ in the following quotes from The Pocket Thomas Merton.

“To serve the God of agape one must be free, one must face the terrible responsibility of the decision to share agape in spite of all unworthiness whether in oneself or in one’s neighbor.

“Only agape can attain and preserve the good of all.

“My true identity lies hidden in God’s call to my freedom and my response to God. This means I must use my freedom in order to share agape, with full responsibility and authenticity, not merely receiving a form imposed on me by external forces, or forming my own life according to an approved social pattern but directing my agape to the personal reality of my brother, and embracing God’s will in its naked, often impenetrable mystery.

“If you live for others you will have an intimate personal knowledge of the agape that rises up in you out of a ground that lies beyond your own freedom and your own inclination.

“Agape alone can give us the power and the delicacy to love others without defiling their loneliness which is their need and their salvation.

“A theology of agape cannot afford to be sentimental. It cannot afford to preach edifying generalities about charity, while identifying ‘peace’ with mere established power and legalized violence against the oppressed. A theology of agape cannot be allowed merely to serve the interests of the rich and powerful, justifying their wars, their violence, and their bombs, while exhorting the poor and underprivileged to practice patience, weakness, long-suffering, and to solve their problems, if at all, nonviolently.

“The theology of agape must seek to deal realistically with the evil and injustice in the world and not merely to compromise with them.

“A theology of agape is a theology of resistance, a refusal of the evil that reduces a brother to homicidal desperation.

“We have more power at our disposal today than we have ever had, and yet we are more alienated and estranged from the inner ground of meaning and of agape than we have ever been.

“There can be no question that unless war is abolished the world will remain constantly in a state of madness and desperation in which, because of the immense destructive power of modern weapons, the danger of catastrophe will be imminent and probably at every moment everywhere. Unless we set ourselves immediately to this task, both as individuals and in our political and religious groups, we tend by our passivity and fatalism to cooperate with the destructive forces that are heading inexorably to war. 

“Christians must become active in every possible way, mobilizing all their resources for the fight against war. Peace is to be preached, nonviolence is to be explained as a practical method, and not left to be mocked as an outlet for crackpots. Everything else is secondary, for the survival of the human race itself depends upon it.

“Christian nonviolence is not built on a presupposed division, but on the basic unity of humanity. It is not for the conversion of the wicked to the ideas of the good, but for the healing and reconciliation of all of us to ourselves, each the person, and all the human family.

FALSE SELF — “If we take our vulnerable shell to be our true identity, if we think our mask is our true face, we will protect it with fabrications even at the cost of violating our own truth. This seems to be the collective endeavor of society: the more busily men dedicate themselves to it, the more certainly it becomes a collective illusion, until in the end we have the enormous, obsessive, uncontrollable dynamic of fabrications designed to protect mere fictitious identities — ‘selves’ that is to say, regarded as objects; ‘selves’ that can stand back and see themselves having fun (an illusion which reassures them that they are real).

“The shallow ‘I’ of individualism can be possessed, developed, cultivated, and pandered to in order to feel satisfied: it is the center of all our strivings for gains and for satisfaction, whether material or spiritual. But the deep ‘I’ of the spirit, of solitude and of agape, cannot be ‘had,’ possessed, developed, or perfected. It can only be. This inner ‘I,’ who is always alone, is always universal: for in this most inmost ‘I’ my own solitude meets the solitude of every other human and the solitude of God.

“The only true joy on earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by agape into union with the Life Who dwells and sings within the essence of every creature and in the core of our own souls. In God’s agape we possess all things and enjoy fruition of them, finding God in them all.

“There is one thing in life that has no limit to its value, one virtue that can be practiced without any need for moderation. And that is agape; the agape of God and the agape of others in God and for God’s sake. There is no point at which it becomes reasonable to abate your interior agape for God and for others, because it is an end in itself: it is the thing for which we were created and the only reason why we exist.”

Agape in DESMOND TUTU’s “The Book of Forgiving”

The following quotes are from Bishop Desmond Tutu’s insightful reflection on his work confronting stark divisions among South African communities, The Book of Forgiving. And of course, his practical understanding of forgiveness was forged dealing with the long years of terrible suffering from the racism of South Africa. Because he is a bishop of the Church of England, in those places where he uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way that expresses the biblical ‘agape,’ the word was rendered as the ancient Greek word ‘agape,’ in keeping with biblical tradition.

“Before we could engage in any effort to earn God’s agape, it was given to us as gift.”

“We are created to live in agape and connection with one another. When there is a break in that connection, we must have a method of repair.

“True transformation is when we unleash the power of agape. We create an environment for positive change. 

“In each of us, there is an innate ability to create joy out of suffering, to find hope in the most hopeless of situations, to heal any relationship in need of healing.

“We all want to be free of the pain of living with a broken and unforgiving heart. We want to free ourselves of the corrosive emotions that threaten to burn away the agape and joy residing in us. We want to heal our broken places.

“I knew the only way I could go on living was to forgive the terrorists. In those moments, I knew that forgiveness was essential, so I forgave. There is already enough hate, we must send our agape and compassion. I knew that to respond with agape to an act of terror was the only way to triumph over terrorism.

“I have learned that my forgiveness required a deep level of acceptance of what had occurred. This does not mean agreement with or any kind of pardoning or condoning of the action that hurt me. It simply means acceptance of the reality of the situation and letting go of the incident, which cannot be changed.

“We live surrounded by so much agape, kindness, and trust that we forget it is remarkable. Forgiveness is the way to return what has been taken from us and restore the agape and kindness and trust that has been lost. Peace always comes to those who choose to forgive.

“Before compassion comes the willingness to feel compassion.

“If we are to help them, we must do so without reservation and from a place of agape and caring.”

“There is still a world of possibility, even when the worst thing happens that could possibly happen. Forgiveness gives me the capacity to contribute something of value—to create a positive outcome to a terrible tragedy.

“Our survival as a human race depends on it.

“MEDITATION:

  1. For this meditation you will need to get still and centered.

  2. Find a quiet place to sit or lie comfortably.

  3. Follow your breath.

  4. Breathe in, visualize agape entering you like a golden light.

  5. With each inhalation, you will see the golden light begin to fill you from your toes to the top of your head.

  6. When you are filled, you radiate this agape outward effortlessly.”

Agape in ANNE LAMOTT’s “Traveling Mercies,” “Plan B,” “Help, Thanks, Wow”

The following quotes are from 3 of Anne Lamott’s series of memoirs. In the places where she uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way that the meaning is in keeping with the original biblical meaning of ‘agape,’ the word was changed to ‘agape.’

“Our hearts are like diamonds because they have the capacity to express divine light, which is agape; we not only are portals for this agape, but are made of it.

“You are Spirit, you are agape, and even though it is hard to believe sometimes, you are free. You’re here to share agape, and to receive agape, freely.

“We don’t transform ourselves, but when we finally hear, the Spirit has access to our hearts, and that is what changes us.

“I felt a shift inside, the conviction that agape was having its way with me, softening me, changing my cold stone heart. The feeling grew stronger and stronger, until, unfortunately, church was over. Driving home, I tried to hold on to what I’d heard that day: that having agape for your enemies was nonnegotiable. It meant trying to respect them, it meant identifying with their humanity and weaknesses. It didn’t mean unconditional acceptance of their crazy behavior. They were still accountable for the atrocities they’d perpetrated, as you were accountable for yours. But you worked at doing better, at having agape for them, for the profoundest spiritual reason: you were trying not to make things worse.

“Spiritual power is the animation energy of agape. The light of agape is the energy and motion that have called us to prayer, allowing us to perceive at least bits of deeper reality.

“This is the most profound spiritual truth I know: that even when we’re most sure that agape can’t conquer all, it seems to anyway. It goes down into the rat hole with us, in the guise of our friends, and there it swells and comforts. It gives us second winds, third winds, hundredth winds.

“If you want to be forgiven, if you want to experience that kind of agape, you have to forgive everyone in your life — everyone, even the very worst boy friend you ever had — even, for God’s sake, yourself. In fact, not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.

“…ask God to help them have a sense of peace, and for them to feel the agape of God.

“To survive unsurvivable losses and finally come to happiness again is possible when agape comes to them through their closest people and through a community of support, helping them and surrounding them with agape.

“Agape falls to earth, rises from the ground, pools around the afflicted.”

Agape in PIERRE PRASTERVANK’s “The Gentle Art of Blessing,” copied from “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories for a Better World”

The following quotes, altered for ‘agape’ are from comments made by Pierre Prastervank in the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories for a Better World.

"To bless means to wish, unconditionally, total unrestricted good for others and events from the deepest chambers of your heart. It means to hallow, to hold in reverence, to behold with utter awe, that which is always a gift from the Creator.

"To bless is yet to invoke divine care upon, to speak or think gratefully for, to confer happiness upon — although we are never the bestower, but simply the joyful witnesses of life’s abundance.

"To bless is to acknowledge the unlimited good that is embedded in the very texture of the universe and awaiting each and all.

"Start by blessing yourself, constantly, sincerely and joyfully, for one cannot give to others the good one would withhold from oneself.

"Blessing is also a wonderful tool to remain open to the present moment — one of the most fundamental spiritual practices that exists, and one that is more sorely needed than ever.

"To bless all without discrimination of any sort is the ultimate form of giving because those you bless will never know from whence came the sudden ray that burst through the clouds of their sky, and you will rarely be a witness to the sunlight in their lives.

"The peace of your blessing will companion them on their way, and the aura of its gentle fragrance will be a light on their path.

{Editor’s note: the following is a quote from his reflection about forgiving someone he had considered to be a tormentor and enemy}

"For me, one of the greatest blessings happened three years ago, when I unexpectedly encountered the person who had masterminded the situation. We met and had dinner together and I cannot find words to express the incredible joy, and especially gratitude, I felt for the man. This person, whom I had seen as my tormentor and enemy, suddenly appeared as what the universe had always intended: my teacher on the path of greater agape."

Agape in JOHN SHELBY SPONG’s “The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic”

In the following first paragraph of quotations from John Shelby Spong’s book, The Fourth Gospel, he explains that the English translation of the Greek word ‘agape’ is rendered as ‘love.’ Because this indication led me to understand that when spiritual ‘love,’ divine ‘love,’ and unconditional ‘love’ are used in the way ‘agape’ was originally used in the Bible, then that should actually be left as the Greek ‘agape,’ so in the quotes that followed, whenever ‘love’ was used in a spiritual way, I changed it to ‘agape.’ I believe this is more in keeping with biblical usage.

      “The Farewell Discourses {of Jesus in Jn. 13-16} are set in the days preceding the Passover celebration. John thus gives Jesus a final opportunity to identify his mission and to interpret the divine love. This love is called agape in Paul {and in the original Greek version, appears in these verses in John}.

      “Jesus wants to open the world to this agape and thereby to invite his disciples into a new dimension of what it means to be human. That new humanity, John argues, is revealed immediately as soon as this agape is grasped. Agape is selfless and thus produces and enhances life. 

      “John’s Jesus is determined to show agape revealing itself in the community, and in his passion, his death, and the Easter experience.

      {After the meal} “Jesus then acts out the role of the servant. He lays aside his garments, then binds himself with a towel. He pours water into a basin and begins to wash the feet of the disciples. In this dramatically written episode, the strictures of life, the boundaries that establish status and power, are reversed; all human images of protective barriers that provide security are removed. 

      “Peter is the only one who seems to have the eyes to see this, however, and he recoils: ‘Lord, you do not wash my feet.’ Jesus responds, not in these words, but with this meaning: Peter, do not resist the freeing power of divine agape, through which I am calling you into a new dimension of what it means to be human. Here status needs are not relevant. Those rules apply only in the world of consistent human yearning, the world of human becoming. I am inviting you into an experience of being itself that will make you whole, more fully human.

      “Jesus concludes this narrative by asking the disciples to reflect on the scene. I have served you, he says. I have taken the role of the servant. That is what agape does. When agape lives in you, you will serve the world. You will give agape and your life to others. The status games that human beings play no longer work when the new awareness, the new consciousness is experienced.

      “That will be the doorway into a new consciousness, a new oneness with all that God is, a doorway into that which is eternal. Jesus reveals God as the source of agape that comes not to judge human inadequacy, but to open the eyes of people to see that they are part of who and what God is so that they can enter the eternity that God represents.”

Agape in JANE VENNARD’s “Praying for Friends and Enemies”

Because Jane Vennard is a Spiritual Counselor, in those places in Praying for Friends and Enemies where she uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way, ‘agape’ is used in the following quotes.

      “The process of praying for others begins with God. God already has agape for us. God is already involved in our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray. God calls us into a network of relationships with God and all of creation. 

      "When we pray for others, we respond to God’s call and become engaged with God and our sisters and brothers. Our prayer is also an expression of gratitude for God’s ongoing presence in our lives.

      “As we pray for others, our prayers are gradually transformed, our hearts are softened, and our eyes are opened. Once opened we can never close our eyes again. We begin to see the world through God’s eyes of agape.

      “The process of praying for others — intercessory prayer — is an exploration into our relationship with God and our relationship with our sisters and brothers. God is the beginning and the destination in the process of intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer comes from deep agape and trust in God.

      “When we begin prayer by allowing everything to pour out of our hearts, God will enter our hearts and prayers, and any obstacles we meet will be transformed.

      “Intercessory prayer is about agape. When we pray for others, our relationships are transformed from objective, utilitarian I/it relationships to intensely personal, mutual I/Thou relationships. To see others as Thou draws us closer to them. We see ourselves reflected in them, we see God in them, we have agape for them. We discover true compassion.

      “The words of Jesus [to pray for our enemies] … become difficult when we attempt to obey them. For to pray for our enemies is to bring them before God. When I bring them before God, I am reminded that they too share in the agape of God. Then I must recognize that the one I am holding at arm’s length is my sister or my brother.

      “Praying for others reveals to us what we have been trying to hide from ourselves. When we pray of those who have hurt us, our hearts soften and we begin to sense agape. We become vulnerable. We feel at risk.

      “Therefore, we must move slowly and gently when we begin to pray for our enemies. Prayers for those who persecute us begin with what is in our hearts. If I am filled with fury, I need to express it in prayer. If I am afraid, I need to cry out my fear.

      [In the Bible’s Psalms that do that] “the purpose is not only to give voice to what is in the psalmist’s heart, the purpose is also to bring the enemy back into relationship with God.

      [When we feel the anguish that is expressed in Psalms (like Ps. 22, 83, 59, or 137)] “first we need to turn to God, we need to feel God’s agape, we need to open our hearts to God’s agape.

      “By praying about our experience (of fury, anguish, or even abandonment) we move back into relationship with God.

      “When there are times when we are ready to pray for our enemies with agape and compassion, offer a prayer of gratitude to God who is agape, and pray that the one who has persecuted you will experience the agape of God and know the hope God offers.”

Agape in GERALD JAMPOLSKY’s “Love is the Answer”

Because Gerald Jampolsky is a psychiatrist who is deeply inspired by A Course in Miracles, the places in his book, Love is the Answer, where he discusses the spiritual meaning of love, ‘agape’ is used.

“Within the belief system of agape, we see that the purpose of our relationships is to remember who we are and that the essence of each of us is agape. Rather than focusing on individual difference, agape focuses on the similarities and the things that we, as spiritual beings, each have in common.

“As we choose the belief system of agape, rather than the belief system of the ego, we once again discover that happiness is our natural inheritance and our natural state of being.

“Agape looks at the world very differently. From the standpoint of the spiritual self, which is pure agape, the purpose of our relationships is to experience a joining with one another and to remember that agape is the only true reality there is. 

“Agape sees relationships as opportunities for learning and as challenges for our personal growth. Rather than having us see relationships as fearful and dangerous, it helps us see them as possibilities for agape and learning and that through them we might see the face of God in the other person, reminding us of our own holiness.

“Agape is changeless. It asks no questions and makes no judgments. It is always gentle and tender. It is always unfolding, extending, and expanding beyond all limitations. 

“How do we transform? The answer can be found in the ‘Bridge of Forgiveness.’ The foundation for this bridge is built on the very soil of agape, where no one can do anything that is unforgivable. As we cross this bridge we discover that everyone is deserving of our total agape, and we can learn to let go of the blocks of our ego perceptions so that we can once again have agape for each other, ourselves, and the source of all life unconditionally.

“To walk across the Bridge of Forgiveness is to walk the most important Bridge in the Universe, the bridge that can lead us to agape, peace, and happiness beyond our wildest dreams. Though our egos will do their very best to distract us from seeing it, the Bridge of Forgiveness is always there, inviting us to cross it, guaranteeing us that in so doing, our relationships will be healed and we will experience more agape and peace than we have ever before imagined.

“The journey across this bridge is filled with boundless joy and hope, as we rediscover the agape and forgiveness that always abides in the heart and that heals all our relationships.”

Agape in GERALD JAMPOLSKY’s “Love is Letting Go of Fear”

In keeping with my practice of interpreting modern writing with the biblical tradition of distinguishing the different meanings of love, for those places where Gerald Jampolsky uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way that the meaning is ‘agape,’ the word was changed in the following quotes.

“By choosing agape more consistently than fear, we can change the nature and quality of our relationships. We choose to see others as extending agape or being fearful and calling for help in the form of agape. With this new perception, it becomes easier to give both total agape and acceptance to the other person and therefore to experience inner peace at the same time.

“Agape is the total absence of fear. Wouldn’t our lives be more meaningful if we looked to what has no beginning and no ending as our reality? Only agape fits this definition of the eternal.

“All fear is past and only agape is here.

“Throughout the day, whenever you are tempted to be fearful, remind yourself that you can experience agape instead.

“Throughout the day, whenever you are tempted to see yourself as victimized, repeat: Only my agape thoughts are real. “We all manufacture our own dust and static that serve only to interfere with seeing, hearing, and experiencing agape within ourselves and others.

“To give is to receive — this is the law of agape. Under this law, when we give ‘our’ agape away to others, we gain, and whatever we give we simultaneously receive. The law of agape is based on abundance; we are completely filled with agape all the time, and our supply is always full and running over.

“The law of agape is that you are agape, and that as you give agape to others, you teach yourself what you are.

“Without the [false] belief in separation, we can accept our own healing and extend healing agape to all those around us. 

“We feel vulnerable when we believe that the fearful past is real and forget that our only reality is agape, and that agape exists this instant. When we see no value in recycling [the ‘garbage’ of the past], we remove the blocks to our being free to forgive and share in agape now. Only in this way can we be truly happy.

“Feel the peaceful bliss and know that the function of agape is to unite all things unto itself.

[EPILOGUE:] “Let us recognize that we are united as one Self and illuminate the world with the light of agape that shines through us. Let us awaken to the knowledge that the essence of our being is agape, and, as such, we are the light of the world.”