A few years ago I was reading a book called Marriage and Other Acts of Charityby Unitarian Universalist Author and Chaplain Kate Braestrup, and she introduced me to a new word: Agape.
Agape is a Greek word which could be literary translated as love, but it is actually so much more.
See, the ancients understood that “love” has many forms. Therefore to limit “love” to just one single word would sell this virtue far short of its many powerful possibilities.
In English we all know there is romantic love, brotherly love, maternal love, to name a few. But what would be the English word to describe the transcendent love that exists between all human beings and god? The Greek word: Agape.
Or what about the Hebrew language?
One of my favorite Hebrew words isHineyni or Hineni. As a non-Jew, I learned this word from one of my beloved authors Sylvia Boorstein in her book That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist.
Ms. Boorstein says the literal translation ofHineyni is “Here I am,” but its meaning goes far greater.
Hineyni, she writes, “is the response to the challenge to acknowledge the truth of the present moment, to recognize what needs to be done, and to be prepared to do it.” In the Old Testament, Abraham says “Hineyni” to God several times in Genesis.
I crave words like Agape and Hineyni, and I don’t think I’m alone in this. Go to most yoga classes or retreats and you will hear the resounding echo of Om coming out of the mouths of dozens of yogis in unison. Om, a word from another ancient language, Sanskrit.
When my own 21st Century English language can often feel quite functional and flat, the more three dimensional sacred texts of the Greek, Hebrew and Sanskrit languages move me with their paradoxical simplicity and depth.
I want to have more language that conveys my spiritual longings so adequately. I want words that reverberate inside of me. I want words that reflect the mirror of my soul.
Do you know any?
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