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.”