Agape in Robert Morris' "Provocative Grace"

The first time I read Robert C. Morris' creative research into the New Testament was in a study group 9 years ago, but when I reread it recently, I realized that parts of his book, Provocative Grace, fit into this section of my blog, where I've been quoting from books that discussed spiritual love.

Although I'll start quoting Morris with the one time when he uses the word 'agape,' I'll follow that one-time quote with quotes where he uses 'love' in a spiritual way that the meaning is 'agape,' and I'll change the word to 'agape.'

      "Jesus calls us toward agape, a broader form of love that intentionally seeks the well-being of others simply because they are fellow creatures.
      "Our overall goal is clear: participation in the compassionate Agape of God, by whose power we can have agape for ourselves, others, and all of life with wisdom, skill, and grace.
      "Jesus wants to spur us into a maturity that can collaborate with the Agape that gave us birth. This Agape seeks partners in making real 'the kingdom' or reign of God which heals the hurts and develops the life of this world.
      "Jesus invited people then and now to see the world in a wholly new way, through different eyes: as a place where God's own powerful agape for the world itself, for all that makes and keeps life holy, is meant to be the central passion of human life. As we let this agape have its way with our personal and communal life, he said, we begin to enter, here and now, on earth, the realm of God's active grace.

      “The man from Nazareth saw earthly life with heaven’s eyes, and he invites us to have agape for each other, earth, and all earth’s creatures with heaven’s agape, God’s own just and merciful agape. As we live into the agape at the heart of Jesus’ halavah, our actions more and more reveal that we are Wisdom’s ‘children,’ offspring of the very agape that shaped the world and our deepest nature. This agape was the driving force of his life and the center of his message.

      “To speak of love can sound shallow and sentimental if we think that the power of soul is simply a pleasant emotion, [but] the agape Jesus received and gave is not only warm and comforting but challenging and purifying, both food and medicine for the human heart, like the sunshine that both strengthens unfolding plants and destroys mildew.

      “This divinely sourced agape, a reflection of God’s own declaration that the creation is ‘very good,’ is the flame at the core of our being.

       "In its more extraordinary forms, agape drives forgiveness after deep injury, and for those quite different from us, and can even open our heart to the humanity of an enemy.

       “Before all else, agape is the capacity to see everyone and everything as interconnected, ‘held together’ in one cosmic embrace.

       “Because behavior that crafts the soul toward ever fuller experiences of agape is so central to fully functional human life, Jesus makes it the central commandment or challenge of his message.

       “Agape is not only power of the psyche or soul, but it’s meant to rule all the rest.

        “Jesus’ command takes his apprentices into a training course in agape.

        “Jesus invites us to learn agape for our whole self by letting agape flow to every part of us.

       “The path of wisdom embodies all the ways the mysterious Agape that shapes the universe has befriended the human race and desires each human’s God-like potential to flourish.”

Agape in GARY CHAPMAN’s “Love as a Way of Life”

In those places where Gary Chapman uses ‘love’ to convey a spiritual meaning, in his book Love as a Way of Life, I changed ‘love’ to ‘agape.’ The clear illustration for why I can make this change is shown in the following first quote.

      "It is God's agape that we seek to share, not a love manufactured on our own. It is God's Spirit who pours agape into us and enables us to give to others.
      “Agape will follow us into eternity. In a world gone mad with greed and hate, how wonderful to know agape never ends — and what a privilege to be able to show agape to other people every day.

      “When we welcome others in agape, no matter what they have done, we demonstrate the agape of God — that changes lives.

      “Generosity comes not from a desire to be rewarded but from having agape for others. It is a spiritual paradox that when we give away what God gives us, we open ourselves to receive more blessing from God.

      “The only way to make sharing agape with people a habit that flows naturally from your soul is through God’s power.

      “Agape brings out our authentic selves.

      “Everyone of us has the potential to extend agape to others. Agape gives the opportunity to discover a deeper joy than ordinary ways the world can give.

      “One of the great things about living through agape is that it brings healing to our souls and bodies. Several scientific studies have shown that acting kindly {through sharing agape} has physical and mental health benefits.

      “When all is said and done, the most satisfied older adults are those who have invested their lives in sharing agape.

     “When we realize agape is primarily an action, we are ready to use the tools we have to better share in the flow of agape.

      “Sometimes it is in the midst of difficulty that we find our greatest opportunities to experience and share agape.

      “To become a more loving person, you need to acknowledge to yourself and to God that you fall into unloving habits and you want to change. Be as specific as possible when you pray.

      “As you get older, you see how much more there is to do in your soul before agape can flow through you authentically.

      “Not only does sharing agape stand a chance in this world, but in fact it is our only chance. If we can come to respect one another as fellow human beings who need one another and choose to look out for one another’s well-being, the potential for good is unlimited. If we fail to do so, we shall lose our dignity and we shall use the technological advances of the last fifty years to destroy one another.

      “Agape is not only realistic but our only hope of survival.

{But} “the part of our nature that puts our own well-being above that of others could be considered our false self. The ego-centered pull of this false self is so pervasive that it has become a way of life for many.

      “When we make a decision to share agape, our desire to grow in agape and show our true selves begins to flow more naturally from our transformed hearts.

      “Our role is to open our hearts and minds daily to receive and share agape and to look for opportunities to continue the flow of agape. The more we do this, the more easily we share agape with others.

      {KINDNESS = 1st KEY TO TRANSFORMING EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE:} “The irony is that making kindness a way of life brings great joy not only to others but also to ourselves. When we are kind no matter what, we see what a difference everyday choices make.

      “The true authentic self of agape says, ‘I’ll be kind to you regardless of how you treat me.’

      “We’re talking about kindness flowing from agape.

      “Your commitment to agape calls on you to act and think in a different way.

      “When you release the person who has wronged you, recognize your own failure in the situation, and seek to extend agape to the offender, you will be liberated to go on with your life and use your time and energy in a constructive way.

      “One overarching calling is to enrich the lives of others by making agape the fundamental purpose of our lives.

      “The greatest thing in the world is sharing agape. Nothing will bring greater satisfaction to your life, in time and eternity, than giving and receiving agape.”

Agapé in Max Lucado’s “A Love Worth Giving”

In order to find deeper insight in selected quotes from Max Lucado’s A Love Worth Giving, I used Lucado’s understanding of spiritual love to change ‘love’ to ‘agape’ in the following quotes:

      “Would we share agape as God shares agape? Then we start by receiving God’s agape. “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous agape.” {Ephesians 3:17}

      “John urges us to “rely on the agape God has for us.” {1 Jn. 4:16}

      “Agape cares for others because God has cared for us. Because God had agape for us first, agape responds. Because God was gracious, agape forgives the mistake when the offense is high. Agape offers patience when stress is abundant and extends kindness when kindness is rare.

      “We have no thermostatic impact on agape; [whereas] our love depends on the receiver of the love; and our love will be regulated by their appearance, by their personalities. Not so with the agape of God. God’s agape is born from within God, not what God finds in us. Agape is uncaused and spontaneous.

      “The abundance of our love does not increase agape. The lack of our love does not diminish agape. Our goodness does not enhance agape, nor does our weakness dilute agape.

      “To be more loving begin by accepting your place as a dearly loved child. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of agape, just as Christ shared agape with us.” {Ephesians 5:1-2}

      “Many people tell us to love. Only God gives us the power to do so.

      “You have a deep aquifer of agape from which to draw. When you find it hard to love, then  you need a drink! Drink deeply! Drink daily!

      “Drink deeply of God’s agape for you — [that] fills your heart with agape worth giving. Agape enables you to put others before yourself, and be quick to applaud the success of others.

       “We will receive first so we can give later. We will drink deeply from heaven’s endless agape. And when we do, we will discover agape worth giving.”

“Agapé” Quotes from Various Authors

A new approach to the way I search for the meaning of agapé began 7 years ago. I gathered quotes from as many authors as I could find. These quotes were entered into a notebook that had a brown, leather cover. 

But as I copied quotes I would alter them whenever I came across the author’s use of the word ‘love’ when I sensed that the word was being used in a spiritual way or had an underlying spiritual meaning. I would change the word to ‘agapé.’ 

As I continued doing that year after year, I began to realize that a profound meaning developed in those quotes. This deepening of understanding helped me become aware of the power of agapé in my life and in my relationships.

At the same time that I was altering quotes from authors, I continued to deepen the meaning of agapé in my own daily meditation exercises and in the actions of living, and relationships. In this combined process I began to find my life being changed as I opened up to an agapic perspective on life. 

Now, I will devote the next 17 posts in this section of my blog as my response to all of that searching. But I’ll start here with only a few quotes before I devote each posting to a lengthy series of quotes from one book. And of course, although the word ‘agape’ is not used, in those places where ‘love’ is used in a spiritual way that the meaning is ‘agape,’ the word was changed to ‘agape.’

     ST. IGNATIUS (from Spiritual Exercises) “Agape is shown more in deeds than in words.”

      In the book, A Year of Living Prayerfully, Jared Brock recorded an interview he had with POPE FRANCIS. The following quote from that interview is from a description of prayerfully holding someone ‘in the light’:

            “I’m excited for what God is going to do in her life. 

            “There’s no more hatred or animosity. Only agape that I could never muster or conjure up on my own. I feel God’s agape toward a former enemy. I feel what Christ felt on the cross.”

      BROTHER LAWRENCE resolved to make agape the end of all his actions.