- The Rev. Arianne Rice
Lenten Reflection: Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent
But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from “The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma,” 1957
Think of a time when you have witnessed or experienced agape love. Describe the experience.