AIs and Love
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
I enjoy audiobooks. So, when I discovered that Kindle offered an AI generated Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature, I was delighted. While far from a professional human narrator’s performance, it’s functionally acceptable. One of the problems TTS has is in choosing context sensitive pronunciations. This is especially obvious with words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently depending on their meaning in the sentence. I really hadn’t paid a lot of attention to this phenomenon except when I was trying to figure out how to spell the word I want for the context of a sentence. But, as I have been reminded listening to TTS narration, English has quite a few such words.
One is the word for Godly love, Agape. It is pronounced with a long vowel sound for the final e, an “ay” sound. But this is also the proper spelling of another English word with an ending in a “p” sound as in the word “pen.” While Agape, the first word, refers to God’s love, the second, agape, means open-mouthed wonder, amazement, or speechless due to shock and awe.
When my TTS reader substituted one meaning for the other in its pronunciation, I had more than my usual “ah” reaction of yet another homonym to add to my collection. I thought not only are these two words spelled alike, they have another important connection, awe or speechless wonder (agape) is the proper response to the love of God (Agape).
This pairing has profound significance for our prayer life. We know God is love and invites us to follow His example as the Apostle John said, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (I John 4:17-21, emphasis added). In this passage I think we can also hear the joy and wonder of an “agape” response to God’s love.
In Hebrews 13:15 the author encourages us, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Paul in Romans 1:20 notes that God is worthy of worship, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” And from Psalm 36 with its refrain of God’s love enduring forever, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever…. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1 and 26). The power of God’s love should pull the response of praise, thanksgiving, and worship from us when we pray.
So, be agape with Agape and remember to include your worshipful response in your prayers.
Reflection Questions:
- When was the last time something left you feeling awe
- Have you ever associated Agape with being overwhelmed by it, by the love of God directed toward you? When was the last time you thanked and praised Him for loving you?
- One of the re
occurring themes of the Psalms is worshiping God. How many things can you list in one1minute that you want to thank and praise Him for doing in your life? Stop and pray through your list now.
(Photo description and credit: Almost every time I visit Crystal Bridges some piece of art amazes me. This installation caught my attention a few years ago. The color and contrasts between the glass sculptures and the rustic bridge gave me that “agape” reaction I tried to capture in my picture. R. A. Stites, Crystal Bridges Garden, Bentonville, AR.)
