Ceremonial Readings and Blessings

Spiritual Blessings

Apache Blessing
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be a shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be a companion to the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place to enter the days of your togetherness. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years. May happiness be your companion, and may your days together be good and long upon the earth.

Old Apache Blessing2

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be a companion to the other. You are two bodies, but there is one life before you, and one home. You will take each others hand and you'll turn together to look at the road you traveled to reach this---the hour of your happiness. It stretches behind you and the future lies ahead. A long and winding road, whose every turn means discovery, old hopes, new laughter and shared tears. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years. May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth. The adventure has just begun!

Cherokee Blessing
Above you are the stars, below you are the stones. As time does pass, remember;
Like a star should your love be constant. Like a stone should your love be firm.
Be close, yet not too close. Possess one another, yet be understanding. Have patience with the other; for storms will come, but they will go quickly. Be free in giving of affection and warmth. Make love often, and be sensuous to one another. Have no fear, and let not the ways or words of the unenlightened give you unease. For the Great Spirit is with you, now and always.

So be it..

Irish Blessing
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon the fields. May the Light of friendship guide your paths together. May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home. May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your eye. And when eternity beckons at the end of a life heaped high with love,

may the good lord embrace you with the arms that have nurtured you the whole length of your joy-filled days. May the gracious God hold you both in the palm of his hands. And, today, may the Spirit of Love find a dwelling place in your hearts. Amen

Irish Blessing (Traditional)

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you
May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

Nature Blessing #1

As we stand in these mountains surrounding by nature’s beautiful bounty, may your love always be as constant and unchanging as these mountains, streams, and forests standing softly before us. In their presence, promise there will never be a day without your love for each other. Pledge that you will to be as faithful and dependable as they are. Just as they nourish the earth and sustain life, may your constant love nourish and sustain each other until the end of time.

Nature Blessing #2

Be swift like the wind in loving each other. Be brave like the sea in loving each other. Be gentle like the breeze in loving each other. Be patient like the sun who waits and watches the four changes in the Earth in loving each other. Be powerful like the roaring of thunder and brilliant like the lightning in loving each other. Be shining like the morning dawn in loving each other. Be proud like the tree who stands without bending in loving each other.

Marriage Blessing #1

May you never take each other for granted but always experience the wonders of your union. May your love consist not only in gazing into each other's eyes, but also in looking outward in the same direction. May your life together be a source of strength and inspiration to yourselves, your families and your friends. May you never forget the beginning of your love for one another, take care of it, nurture it, and allow it to grow strong and firm in the years that are to come. May you always concentrate on making each other happy and secure in your commitment to one another and always rely on your ability to keep the promises you have made to one another today throughout the thick and thin of life's experiences. And may you always be in love. May your love be as beautiful each day you share as it is on this day of Your Wedding and may all of your wishes come true.

This Day

May this day shine eternally in your lives.
May it add brilliance to every achievement
and cast a divine light over any misfortune.
May you care for each other in all sadness.
May you give cheer to each other.
May you give vitality to each other in all undertakings.
May all that is virtuous, beautiful and honest, remain with you always.

Anonymous Blessing

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong.

In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.

And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.

Blessing For A Marriage by James Dillet Freeman

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding. May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel one another. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back. May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one another's presence no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!

Religious Blessings

Prayer/Blessing #1

Dearest God, I ask that you bless and sanctify this union, As they live in your love, While awake and asleep, At work and at play. As they seek your wisdom and understanding, Let them find all of those secret joys You have especially for them. Amen

Prayer/Blessing #2

May God bless you with hope enough to keep the dawn in your love, and fear enough to keep you holding hands in the dark. Unity enough to keep your roots entwined, and separation enough to keep you reaching out for each other. Harmony enough to keep romance in your song, and discord enough to keep you tuning your love. Amen

Prayer/Blessing #3

Dear God, grant _______ and ______

a true love to unite them to each other;

patience to assimilate their differences;

forgiveness to cover their failures;

guidance to lead them in the right way;

courage to face times of testing;

and your inner peace to comfort them

and uphold them in times of distress.

Bless them in the living of their days together,

and deepen their love for each other

in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen

The Lord Bless You And Keep You

The Lord bless you and keep you both. The Lord makes His face to shine upon you and be gracious upon you. The Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace, happiness, and joy, at this moment, throughout your married life, and forevermore. Amen.

Trinity Blessing

May God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, bless, preserve, and keep you; may His favor be upon you; and fill you with every spiritual blessing and grace, that you may so live together in this life, that in the world to come you may have life everlasting. Amen.

Blessing: Adapted From Colossians 3:12-17

______ and ______, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ______ and ______, may the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Blessing: Adapted From Philippians 2:1, 2, 5

If there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make ______ and ______ more complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Have this attitude among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Blessing: Adapted From Ephesians 5:15-22

______ and ______, be very careful how you live—not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, which is excess, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. Always give thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Meal Blessing #1

Heavenly Father we ask you to bless this couple, be with them Lord in good times and in bad, teach them how to love well and thus bring your love to the world. Bless this food which we are about to share for it gives of strength and reminds us of your bounty. Bless the wine we drink for it gladdens our hearts and reminds us of the joy you have given us. And bless each and every one of us as we celebrate this day and bring us safely home through Christ our Lord. Amen

Meal Blessing #2
Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing on _________ and _________ who today have begun their married life together. Be with them Lord in good times and in bad, uphold them in their sorrow and celebrate with them in their joy, teach them to love each other well and thus bring your love to the world. Bless the food which we share for it strengthens us and gives us hope. Bless the wine we have to share for it gives us joy and reminds us of all the good things you give us. And, Lord, bless each and every one of us as we celebrate today and being us safely home through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sacred Texts

The Buddha's Sermon At Rajagaha; Verses 19-22
"Do not deceive, do not despise each other anywhere. Do not be angry nor bear secret resentments; for as a mother will risk her life and watches over her child, so boundless be your love to all, so tender, kind and mild. Cherish good will right and left, early and late, and without hindrance, without stint, be free of hate and envy, while standing and walking and sitting down, what ever you have in mind, the rule of life that is always best is to be loving-kind."

Druidic Vow
"We swear by peace and love to stand heart to heart, and hand in hand. Mark, O Spirit, and hear us now, Confirming this our Sacred Vow."

The Hindu Scriptures; The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad; Selected Verses
"A wife loves her husband not for his own sake, dear one, but because the Divine Beloved lives in him. A Husband loves his wife not for her own sake, dear one, but because the Divine Beloved lives in her. Children are loved not for their own sake, dear one, but because the Divine Beloved lives in them... All things are loved not for their own sake, but because the Divine Beloved lives in them. The Divine Beloved must be realized. Hearing about and meditating upon the Divine Beloved, you will come to understand everything in life... As long as there is the sense of separateness, one sees another as separate from oneself... But when the Divine Beloved is realized as the indivisible unity of life, who can be seen by whom... who can be spoken to by whom, who can be thought of by whom, who can be known by whom?"

From Pope John Paul II
"You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty, and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life; and that with the help of the divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate."

I Ching
"When two people are at one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze. And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids."

Bhagavad Gita
"Look to this day,
For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the varieties
And realities of your existence;
The bliss of growths
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty;
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
Such is the salvation of the dawn."

The Koran
"O believers, be in awe of God,
and believe in His Messenger,
and He will give you a twofold portion of His mercy,
and He will appoint for you a light
whereby you shall walk, and forgive you;
God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate;
that the People of the Book may know
that they have no power over anything of God's bounty,
and that bounty is in the hand of God;
He gives it unto whomsoever He will;
and God is of bounty abounding."

The Koran: Chapter, The Women
"O ye mankind!
Reverence your Lord
Who made you from a single being,
and from that being He made its mate,
And from the twain He caused to spread
Many men and many women;
And reverence God
By Whom you question one another
And (pay respect to) the ties of relationship.
Surely, God watches over you."

The Qur'an (9:71-72)
"It requires that a husband and wife should be as garments for each other. Just as garments are for protection, comfort, show and concealment for human beings, Allah expects husbands and wives to be for one another. And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends of one another; they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship and they pay the poor-due, and they obey Allah and His messenger; as for those, Allah will have mercy on them; Lo! Allah is Mighty, Wise. Allah hath promised to believers - men and women - gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss; but the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah: This is the supreme felicity."

The Qur'an (30:21)
"Among His signs is [the fact] that He has created spouses for you among yourselves so that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has planted love and mercy between you; In that are signs for people who reflect."

Based on the "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu
“Explore and discover that which is within.
When we find ourselves, we are more easily found by others.
Without words, without even understanding,
lovers find each other.
The moment of finding is always a surprise,
like meeting an old friend never before known.
Life and marriage are a wondrous journey,
ever unfolding an opportunity
to rediscover ourselves and our beloved
again and again for even on a shared journey
the only thing constant is change.
Embrace it and let it lead you
to many a glorious tomorrow."

Based on the Hindu 7 steps
“Marriage has in it the power to form a circle of family
that includes all who are touched by the warmth
of the love shared by a loving husband and wife,
creating a common ground of uncommon richness.
May your marriage bring your souls an abundance
of spiritual and physical nourishment.
May you be strong enough to balance one another,
caring and giving enough to complement one another.
May you be prosperous in all ways, ever appreciative,
and grateful for all the gifts your marriage has brought.
May you see your children grow and thrive.
And may you live your lives together in perfect harmony,
As partners, lovers, parents, teachers and best friends.”

From The Lost Sutras of Jesus. Christian monks who lived and worked in China during the 6th century
“Love leads to truth; perfect love to perfect truth.
Truth is like the moon reflected in the water;
when the water is stirred up and muddy,
the image is blurred and indistinct,
so it is with human beings when our spirit is clouded.
Let your love be a pure compassion for one another,
without seeking its own glory,
let it be true in your own hearts.
Let your spirits guide you
to what is right and true and just.
This is the way love leads us.”

The Couple's Tao Te Ching: Always Return, Lao Tzu, sixth century B.C.E.
"It is good to know your strength
But always return to your flexibility
If you cradle your beloved in your arms
In nurturing gentleness,
Love will flow through you.
It is good to achieve things
But always return to anonymity.
Your beloved does not need your achievements
But needs your uncomplicated soul.
It is good to work for change,
But always return to what is.
If you accept all things whether painful or joyful
You will always know
That you belong to each other."

Love Poems

"The Key to Love" by Anon, 1st century China
"The key to love is understanding ...
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,

but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.

The key to love is forgiveness ....
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting, but with remembering
what you learn from them.

The key to love is sharing ...
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
both conquering problems, forever searching for ways
to intensify your happiness.

The key to love is giving ...
with out thought of return,
but with the hope of just a simple smile,
and by giving in but never giving up.

The key to love is respect ...
realizing that you are two separate people, with different ideas;
that you don't belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.

The key to love is inside us all ...
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients
that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work ...
but the rewards are more than worth the effort ...
and that is the key to love."

"Sooner or Later" Author Unknown
"Sooner or later we begin to understand
that love is more than verses on valentines,
and romance in the movies.
We begin to know that love is here and now, real and true,
the most important thing in our lives.
For love is the creator of our favourite memories
and the foundation of our fondest dreams.

Love is a promise that is always kept,
a fortune that can never be spent,
a seed that can flourish in even the most unlikely of places.
And this radiance that never fades,
this mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all -
one known only by those who love."

"If Thou Must Love Me" Elizabeth Barrett Browing (1806-1861)
"If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for love's sake only. Do not say,
'I love her for her smile - her look - her way
Of speaking gently, for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day' -
For these things in themselves, beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee - and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity."

"True Love" Author Unknown
"True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines."

"I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman
"If in the morning when you wake,
If the sun does not appear,
I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
I will be here.

I will be here,
When you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind I will listen.
Through the winning, losing, and trying we'll be together,
And I will be here.
If in the morning when you wake,
If the future is unclear,
I will be here.
As sure as seasons were made for change,
Our lifetimes were made for years,
I will be here.

I will be here,
And you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we're older.
I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty,
And tell you all the things you are to me.
We'll be together and I will be here.
I will be true to the promises I've made,
To you and to the one who gave you to me.
I will be here."

"The Promises of Marriage" Author Unknown
"Marriage is a promise of companionship,
Of having someone to share
All of life's experiences.

Marriage does not promise that there will
Not be any rough times,
Just the assurance that there will
Always be someone
Who cares and will help you through
To better times.

Marriage does not promise eternal romance,
Just eternal love and commitment.
Marriage cannot prevent disappointments,
Disillusionment, or grief,
But it can offer hope, acceptance,
And comfort.

Marriage can't protect you from making
Individual choices
Or shelter you from the world,
But it will help to reassure you
That there is some by your side
Who truly cares,
When the world hurts you
And makes you feel vulnerable,
Marriage offers the promise that there will
Be someone waiting to listen,
To console, to inspire.

Marriage is the joining of two people
Who share the promise
That only marriage can make ...
To share the sunshine and the shadows,
And to experience a richer, more fulfilling life
Because of it."

"Reprise" by Ogden Nash (1902-1971)
"Geniuses of countless nations
Have told their love for generations
Till all their memorable phrases
Are common as goldenrod or daisies.
Their girls have glimmered like the moon,
Or shimmered like a summer moon,
Stood like a lily, fled like a fawn,
Now the sunset, now the dawn,
Here the princess in the tower
There the sweet forbidden flower.
Darling, when I look at you
Every aged phrase is new,
And there are moments when it seems
I've married one of Shakespeare's dreams."

"In An Instant" by Rev. Melissa L Straub
"Our soulmates exist
In this well charted life
When we find them we know
In an instant it's right
And although to some
It seems far too fast
Who are we to judge
When their hearts meet at last
For they have known all along
To whom they belong
Their souls come together
Like a well rehearsed song
Let us support and nurture
The love these two know
So that through their lives together
This love shall continue to glow."

"All Things Are Ours" by Barbara Burrow
"All things are ours because we love
The earth below, the sky above,
The mountains, meadow, sand, and sea.
All things surrounding you and me
Are but a sweet reflection of
The gentle wonder of our love."

"I Ask The Impossible" by Anna Castillo
"I ask the impossible: love me forever.
Love me when all desire is gone.
Love me with the single-mindedness of a monk.
When the world and all its entirety,
and all that you hold sacred, advise you
against it: love me still more.
When rage fills you and has no name: love me.
When each step from your door to your job ties you-
love me; and from job to home again.

Love me when you are bored -
when everyone you see is more beautiful than the last,
or more pathetic, love me as you always have:
not as admirer or judge, but with
the compassion you save for yourself
in your solitude.

Love me as you relish your loneliness,
the anticipation of your death,
mysteries of the flesh, as it tears and mends.

Love me as your most treasured childhood memory-
and if there is none to recall -
imagine one, place me there with you.
Love me withered as you loved me new.

Love me as if I were forever -
and I will make the impossible
a simple act,
by loving you, loving you as I do."

"Love is..." by Andrea Hill
"More beautiful than roses
Much deeper than the seas
Stronger than a hurricane
But timid like a breeze

Real as in a picture
But yet it can't be seen
More beautiful than anything
As vivid as a dream

Precious as rare jewels
A bond between two hearts
A symphony of feelings
When time is spent apart

Sharing common interests
Working through all fears
Looking at yourself
As if two were in the mirror

Finding common ground
On issues not agreed
Giving into arguments
Tending all your needs

Being there for always
Is all I want to do
Holding you forever
Because our love is true"

"The Colour Of My Love" by David Foster and Arthur Janov
"I'll paint a sun to warm your heart
Knowing that we'll never part.
I'll draw the years all passing by
So much to learn, so much to try.

I'll paint my mood in shadow blue,
Paint my soul to be with you.
I'll sketch your lips in shaded tones,
Draw your mouth to my own.

I'll trace a hand to wipe your tears
And trace a look to calm your fears.
A silhouette of dark and light
To hold each other oh so tight.

I'll paint the stars in the evening sky,
Draw the light into your eyes,
A touch of love, a touch of grace,
To softly fall on your moonlit face.

And with this ring our lives will start,
Let nothing keep our love apart.
I'll take your hand to hold in mine,
And be together through all time."

"From This Day Forward" Author Unknown
"From this day forward,
You shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter,
And my arms will be your home".

"Sonnet 116" by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds.
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is not shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom,
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved."

"Love Is Enough" by William Morris (1834-1896)
"Love is enough: though the World be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder
And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass'd over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover."

"All I Want" Author Unknown
All I want is to love you
For the rest of my life....
To wake up every morning
With you by my side,
Knowing that no matter what happens

I'll be able to come home
To your loving arms.
All I want is to share everything with you....
To talk to you about our ideas, our dreams,
The little everyday things that make us laugh,
And the not-so-little things
That we can't help worrying about.
All I want is to give you my love....
As a place you can always come to for acceptance
Or the simple comfort that silence brings
When things left unspoken can still be understood.
All I want is to grow old with you...
To watch our life unfold,
Our dreams, one by one, come true.
All I want is to love you forever.

"Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as man can breath, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

"Somewhere" by Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904)
"Somewhere there waiteth in this world of ours
for one lone soul, another lonely soul -
Each chasing each through all the weary hours,
And meeting strangely at one sudden goal;
Then blend they - like green leaves with golden flowers,
Into one beautiful and perfect whole -
And life's long night is ended, and the way
Lies open onward to eternal day."

"Friendship" by Hartley Coleridge (1726-1849)
"When we were idlers with the loitering rills,
The need of human love we little noted:
Our love was nature; and the peace that floated
On the white mist,
And dwelt upon the hills,
To sweet accord subdued our wayward wills:
One soul was ours, one mind, one heart devoted,
That, wisely doting, ask'd not why it doted,
And ours the unknown joy, which knowing kills.
But now I find how dear thou wert to me;
That man is more than half of nature's treasure,
Of that fair beauty which no eye can see,
Of that sweet music which no ear can measure;
And now the streams may sing for others' pleasure,
The hills sleep on in their eternity."

"Love" by Roy Croft
"I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am when I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what you have made of yourself,
But for what you are making of me.

I love you for
the part of me that you bring out;
I love you for
putting your hand into my heaped-up heart
And passing over all the foolish, weak things
that you can't help dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out into the light
All the beautiful belongings
that no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern, but a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
being a friend means, after all."

"My True Love Hath My Heart" by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
"My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven:

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
My heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guide:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides:

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his."

"May Our Friendship Last Forever" Author Unknown
May our friendship last forever;
May I sail upon your sea.
May we go through life together;
May there always be a "we."

May I be your endless sky;
May you breathe my gentle air.
May you never wonder why
Each time you look for me, I'm there.

May we be for each a smile
Like the warm, life-giving sun;
Yet when we're in pain awhile,
May our suffering be one.

May we share our special days,
The happiness of one for two;
And if we must go separate ways,
Let my love remain with you.

"Marriage Means Being In Love for the Rest of Your Life" by Chris Ardis
Marriage is love walking hand in hand together.
It's laughing with each other about silly little things,
and learning to discuss big things with care and tenderness.
In marriage, love is trusting each other when you're apart.
It's getting over disappointments and hurts,
knowing that these are present in all relationships.
It's the realization that there is no one else in this world
that you'd rather be with than the one you're married to.
It's thinking of new things to do together;
It's growing old together.
Marriage is being in love for the rest of your life.

"The Promise" by Eileen Rafter

"The sun danced on the snow with a glittering smile,
As two lovers sat quietly, alone for a while.
Then he turned and said, with a casual air,
(Though he blushed from his toes to the tips of his hair)
"I think I'd quite like to get married to you."

"Well then," she said, "well there's a thought,
But what if we can't vow to be all that we ought?
Can you promise me, say, you won't grumble and shout
If I'm late yet again when we plan to go out?
For I know I can't say that I’ll learn to ignore
Dirty socks and damp towels strewn all over the floor.
So if we can't promise to be all that we should,
I’m not sure what to do, though the idea's quite good."

But he gently smiled and tilted his head
Till his lips met her ear, then softly he said,
"I promise, to weave my dreams into your own.
That wherever you breathe shall be my heart's home.
I promise, that whether with rags or with gold I am blessed,
Your smile is the jewel I shall treasure the best.
Do you think then, my love, we should marry, do you?"

"Yes," she said smiling "I do."

"On Your Wedding Day" Author Unknown

"Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone's life
You'll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as Husband and Wife

It's a brand new beginning the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although there'll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure

You'll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken

So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It's the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper 'I do'

And with luck, all your hopes, and your dreams can be real
May success find it's way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts."

"Love" Author Unknown

Love is a friendship that has caught fire.
It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving.
It is loyalty through good and bad.
It settles for less than perfection,
and makes allowances for human weakness.
Love is content with the present.
It hopes for the future and it doesn't brood over the past.
It's the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories,
and working toward common goals.
If you have love in your life,
it can make up for a great many things you lack.
If you don't have it, no matter what else there is,
it is not enough, so search for it, ask God for it, and share it!

"Fidelity" by D.H. Lawrence

Man and woman are like the earth,
that brings forth flowers
in summer, and love, but underneath is rock.
Older than flowers, older than ferns,
older than foraminiferae,
older than plasm altogether is the soul underneath.
And when, throughout all the wild chaos of love
slowly a gem forms, in the ancient,
once-more-molten rocks
of two human hearts, two ancient rocks,
a man's heart and a woman's,
that is the crystal of peace,
the slow hard jewel of trust,
the sapphire of fidelity.
The gem of mutual peace
emerging from the wild chaos of love.

"Prayer of Love" Author unknown

My marriage prayer for you is this:
That you will always remember the qualities that attracted you
to each other when you first met and how you felt as your feelings
of attraction turned into respect, admiration and finally love.
That you will work hard to turn your feelings of love into acts of love
so that nothing and no one can divide you.
That you will always have kind and loving hearts that are quick
to ask for forgiveness when you are wrong
as well as to forgive when your partner is wrong.
That your love might grow to hear all things, believe all
things, and hope for all things, endure all things.
I pray you place your marriage in God's hands, and that your
love increases and overflows, beyond anything you can yet imagine.

"Beyond the Reflection" by Thomas Merton

"The beginning of love is to let those we
love be perfectly themselves, and not to
twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise
we love only the reflection of ourselves
we see in them."

"This Bridge" by Shel Silverstein

"This bridge will only take you halfway there
To those mysterious lands you long to see:
Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fairs
And moonlit woods where unicorns run free.
So come and stay awhile with me and share
The twisting trails and wondrous worlds I've known.
But this bridge will only take you halfway there...
The last few steps you'll have to take alone."

"The Magic Of Love" by Helen Steiner Rice

"Love is like magic
And it always will be,
For love still remains
Life's sweet mystery!
Love works in ways
That are wondrous and strange
And there's nothing in life
That love cannot change!
Love can transform
The most commonplace
Into beauty and splendour
And sweetness and grace!
Love is unselfish,
Understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart
And not with its mind!
Love is the answer
That everyone seeks...
Love is the language
That every heart speaks...
Love can't be bought
It is priceless and free,
Love, like pure magic,
Is a sweet mystery!"

"Marriage is ....." by Anon, 1st century China

" Marriage is a dynamic process of discovery
Marriage is a journey, not an arrival.
In marriage, being the right person is as important
as finding the right person.
Marriage is starting to love, over and over again.
Marriage is a life's work.
Marriage is an art... and like any creative process,
It requires active thought and effort.
We have to learn how to share on many different levels.
We need to practice talking from the heart,
And understanding attitudes as well as words.
Giving generously and receiving graciously
are talents that are available to anyone.
But all these skills need to be developed,
if the marriage picture that we paint is to be anything
approaching the masterpiece intended.

"If You Can Always Be As Close" by Larry S. Chengges

"And as happy as today,
Yet be secure enough to grow
And change along the way.
If you can keep for you alone
Your love as man and wife,
Yet find the time to share your joy
With others in your life.
If you can be as one
And walk through marriage hand in hand,
Yet still support the goals and dreams
That each of you have planned.
If you can dare to always go
Your separate ways together,
Then all the wonder of today
Will stay with you forever. "

"A Lifetime of Love" Author Unknown

"The most ideal expression of love
is the joining in spirit of two people whose hearts are as one.

'Love'

A word that promises so many happy tomorrows,
That gives meaning to everyday moments of sharing ..
That strengthens and supports in difficult time..
That makes a commitment that never ends.
Today is the beginning of a whole new life together
A life of special moments, shared with love.
Today is the beginning of countless bright tomorrows..
Filled with all the special dreams you are dreaming of.
May the happiness you have found together be yours
throughout a lifetime of love."

"This Life Is Yours" Author Unknown

"Take the power
To choose what you want to do
And do it well
Take the power
To love what you want in life
And love it honestly
Take the power
To walk in the forest
And be a part of nature
Take the power
To control your own life
No one else can do it for you
Take the power
To make your life happy"

"Desiderata"
by Max Erhmann

"As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexation to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep invested in your own career, however humble. It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is: many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether
or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with yourself. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy."

"Possibility" by Ralph Masrton

"In the seed, there is a forest waiting to grow.
On the artist's canvas, a masterpiece is waiting to be painted.
In the engineer's workstation,
a technical breakthrough is waiting to be developed.
Everywhere there is possibility.
Every moment of every life is filled with possibilities,
and the next moment as well.
Every problem has a possible solution.
Every goal has a possibility of achievement.
Right now, right this moment,
your life has possibilities that you never even considered.
Possibilities you can follow to overcome the challenges you face.
Possibilities that can bring joy and fulfilment.
There is a pathway leading to wherever you want to go.
All you need to do is find it and start the journey.
Today does not have to be like yesterday.
There are plenty of other possibilities.
Consider your possibilities. Follow your possibilities.
Open yourself to what could be, and make it so."

"A Marriage...." by Mark Twain

"Makes of two fractional lives a whole;
It gives to two purposeless lives a work
And doubles the strength of each to perform it
It gives to two questioning natures a reason for living,
And something to live for;
It will give a new gladness to the sunshine,
A new fragrance to the flowers,
A new beauty to the earth,
And a new mystery to life"

"Love Is The Most Incredible Of All The Experiences That Touch Our Lives" Author Unknown
"It creates for us the world that we want to live in.
From the beginning of our lives,
we know that love is the power that comforts and protects us;
It is the one feeling that we can depend upon
to help us through life's ups and downs.
Love is the understanding and security that never changes;
It allows us to be ourselves and feel self confident.
Today, as the two of you join together and commit your love to each other, remember the lessons of love that you have always known.
Let your love comfort, support and encourage you.
Let your love be the best part of your lives;
Always know that it will make everything better
and it will make your world a place of happiness.
"Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog" by Taylor Mali
"First of all, it's a big responsibility,
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?
On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breaths
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.
Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know 'Don't you ever do that again!'
Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.
But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops."

"Why Marriage?" by Mari Nichols-Haining
Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,
With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body…
Because I need a forever friend to trust
with the intimacies of me,
Who won't hold them against me,
Who loves me when I'm unlikable,
Who sees the small child in me, and
Who looks for the divine potential of me...
Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night
With someone who thanks God for me,
With someone I feel blessed to hold...
Because marriage means opportunity
To grow in love in friendship...
Because marriage is a discipline
To be added to a list of achievements...
Because marriages do not fail, people fail
When they enter into marriage
Expecting another to make them whole...
Because, knowing this,
I promise myself to take full responsibility
For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness
I create me, I take half of the responsibility for my marriage
Together we create our marriage...
Because of this understanding
The possibilities are limitless.

Marriage Poems and Readings

From "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
"Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you with hold the "aye." And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed. When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught. And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

From "Gift From The Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (b.1906)
"When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern. The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides."

From "A Natural History Of Love" by Diane Ackerman
"Love. What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful. It has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can love's spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots spreading into deep and mysterious days. The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever like wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving, and being loved."

From "The Hymn Of The Universe" by Teilhard De Chardin
"Only love can bring individual beings to their perfect completion, as individuals, by uniting them one with another, because only love takes possession of them and unites them by what lies deepest within them. This is simply a fact of our everyday experience. For indeed at what moment do lovers come into the most complete possession of themselves if not when they say that they are lost in one another? And is not love all the time achieving - in couples, in teams, all around us - the magical and reputedly contradictory feat of personalizing through totalizing? And why should not what is thus daily achieved on a small scale be repeated one day on worldwide dimensions? Humanity, the spirit of the earth, the synthesis of individuals and peoples, the paradoxical conciliation of the element with the whole, of the one with the many: all these are regarded as Utopian fantasies, yet they are biologically necessary; and if we would see them made flesh in the world what more need we do than imagine our power to love growing and broadening, till it can embrace the totality of human beings and of the earth?"

From "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran
"Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise on your lips."

From "The Strength To Love" by Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. Love is something much more than emotional bosh... An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return,[agape] is the love of God operating in the human heart... Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind's quest for peace and security... The great military leaders of the past have gone, and their empires have crumbled and burned to ashes. But the empire of Jesus, built solidly and majestically on the foundation of love, is still growing."

From "Know Thyself, Know Thyself More Deeply" by D.H. Lawrence
"Go deeper than love, for the soul has greater depths, love is like the grass, but the heart is deep wild rock molten, yet dense and permanent. Go down to your deep old heart, and lose sight of yourself. And lose sight of me, the me whom you turbulently loved. Let us lose sight of ourselves, and break the mirrors.For the fierce curve of our lives is moving again to the depths out of sight, in the deep living heart."

From "A Song for Hyawatha"
"Come join us in celebration, those who love sunshine on meadow, who love shadow of the forest, love the wind among the branches and the palisades of pine trees, and the thunder in the mountains whose innumerable echoes flap like eagles in their eries. Listen to this song of marriage. How, from another tribe and country came a young man saying, "give me as my wife this maiden, and our hands be clasped more closely, and our hearts be more united." Thus it is, our daughters leave us, those we love and those who love us. When a youth with flaunting feathers beckons to the fairest maiden. From the sky the sun benignant looked upon them through the branches, Saying to them, "oh, my children life is checkered shade and sunshine." The two figures man and woman Standing hand in hand together, with their hands so clasped together that they seem in one united. And the words thus represented are, "I see your heart within you." Sing them songs of love and longing. Now, let's feast and be more joyous."

From "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Marjory Williams
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get all loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

From "The Prophet" By Kahlil Gibran
"And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, 'Speak to us of Children.' And he said: 'Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable."

From "The Last Temptation of Christ" By Nikos Kazantzakis
"When the kings had died, a pauper, barefoot and hungry, came and sat on the throne. 'God' he whispered, 'the eyes of man cannot bear to look directly at the sun, for they are blinded. How then, Omnipotent, can they look directly at you? Have pity, Lord; temper your strength, turn down your splendor so that I, who am poor and afflicted may see you!' Then - listen, old man - God became a piece of bread, a cup of cool water, a warm tunic, a hut, and in front of the hut, a woman feeding an infant. 'Thank you, Lord,' he whispered. 'You have humbled yourself for my sake. You became bread, water, a warm tunic and my wife and son in order that I may see you. And I did see you. I bow down and worship your beloved many-faced face!'"

From " Union" by Robert Fulghum
"You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with "When we're married" and continued with "I will and you will and we will" - those late night talks that included "someday and somehow and maybe"- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, "You know all those things we've promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word." Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband,
this- is my wife "

From "Corelli's Mandolin" by Louise De Bernieres
"Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion... That is just being "in love," which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident."

From "Everything is Illumanated" by Jonathan Safran Foer
The 120 Marriages of Joseph and Sarah L
The young couple first married on August 5, 1744, when Joseph was eight and Sarah six, and first ended their marriage six days later when Joseph refused to believe, to Sarah's frustration, that the stars were silver nails in the sky, pinning up the black nightscape. They remarried four days later, when Joseph left a note under the door of Sarah's parents' house: I have considered everything you told me, and I do believe that the stars are silver nails. They ended their marriage again a year later, when Joseph was nine and Sarah seven, over a quarrel about the nature of the bottom of the river bed. A week later, they were remarried, including this time in their vows that they should love each other until death, regardless of the existence of the riverbed, the temperature of the river bed's bottom (should it exist), and the possible existence of starfish on the possibly existing riverbed. They ended their marriage one hundred and twenty times throughout their lives and each time remarried with a longer list of vows. They were sixty and fifty-eight at their last marriage, only three weeks before Sarah died of heart failure and joseph drowned himself in the bath. Their marriage contract still hangs over the door of the house they on-and-off shared-nailed to the top post and brushing against the SHALOM welcome mat: "It is with everlasting devotion that we, Joseph and Sarah L, reunite in the indestructible union of matrimony, promising love until death, with the understanding that the stars are silver nails in the sky, regardless of the existence of the bottom of the river, the temperature of this bottom (should it exist) and the possible existence of starfish on the possibly existing riverbed, overlooking what may or may not have been Accidental grape juice spills, agreeing to forget that Joseph played sticks and balls with his friends when he promised he would help Sarah thread the needle for the quilt she was sewing, and that Sarah was supposed to give the quilt to Joseph, not his buddy, ignoring the simple fact that Joseph snores like a pig, and that Sarah is no great treat to sleep with either, letting slide certain tendencies of both parties to look too long at members of the opposite sex, not making a fuss over why Joseph is such a slob, leaving his clothes wherever he feels like taking them off, expecting Sarah to pick them up, clean them, and put them in their proper place as he should have, or why Sarah has to be such a pain about the smallest things, such as which way the toilet paper unrolls, or when dinner is five minutes later than she was planning, because, let's face it, it's Joseph who's putting that paper on the roll and dinner on the table, disregarding whether the beet is a better vegetable that the cabbage, putting aside the problems of being fat-headed and chronically unreasonable, trying to erase the memory of a long since expired rose bush that a certain someone was supposed to remember to water when his wife was visiting family, accepting the compromise of the way we have been, the way we are, and the way we will likely be. May we live together in unwavering love and good health. Amen"

"Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr Seuss
"Congratulations! Today is your day.You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the couple who'll decide where to go. You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "We don't choose to go there. "With your heads full of brains and your shoes full of feet, You're too smart to go down, any not-so-good street. And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town. It's opener there in the wide open air, Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too. OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO! You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to great heights! You won't lag behind, because you'll have all the speed. You'll pass the whole gang, and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don't. Because sometimes, you won't. You'll get mixed up of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with so many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left. And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! (98.5 percent guaranteed.) KIDS, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS! So, be your name Buxbaum or Dowrie or Bass or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting.
So get on your way!"

From “Letters To A Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke
Marriage is in many ways a simplification of life, and it naturally combines the strengths and wills of two young people so that, together, they seem to reach farther into the future than they did before. Above all, marriage is a new task and a new seriousness, - a new demand on the strength and generosity of each partner. The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of their solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side by side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky. Life is self-transformation, and human relationships, which are an extract of life, are the most changeable of all, they rise and fall from minute to minute, and lovers are those for whom no moment is like any another. People between whom nothing habitual ever takes place, nothing that has already existed, but just what is new, unexpected, unprecedented. There are such connections, which must be a very great, an almost unbearable happiness, but they can occur only between very rich beings, between those who have become, each for his own sake, rich, calm, and concentrated; only if two worlds are wide and deep and individual can they be combined....

From "Instructions For Life In The New Millennium" by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama

"Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. And that a loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.Be gentle with the earth, be gentle with one another. When disagreements come remember always to protect the spirit of your union. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. So love yourselves, love one another, love all that is your life together and all else will follow."

From "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant
“Isaac my father, told me that he had never taken any woman to his bed but my mother. Rebecca had welcomed him with tenderness and passion when they were first married because as her groom, he treated her as though she were the Queen of Heaven and he her Consort. Their joining was the union of the sea and the sky, of the rain and the parched earth, of night and day, wind and water. Their nights were filled with stars and sighs as they played the part of Goddess and God. Their touches engendered a thousand dreams. They slept in each others arms every night that was possible from that night on. That was my father’s teaching about husbands and wives said Jacob, my father, to Leah, my mother, on their first night together."

Excerpt from "The Bridge Across Forever" byRichard Bach
"A soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we're safe in our own paradise. Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we're two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we've found the right person. Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life."

Adapted from "Plato's Symposium"
"Humans have never understood the power of Love, for if they had they would surely have built noble temples and altars and offered solemn sacrifices; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done, since Love is our best friend, our helper, and the healer of ills. Once upon a time, human beings each had two sets of arms, two sets of legs, and two faces looking in opposite directions. Due to the power of these original humans, the gods began to fear that their reign might be threatened. So, in a manner not unlike the powers that be do so. Today, Zeus divided the humans in half. He split their power, so that he and the other gods may do what they wish. But the gods are not completely efficient. After the division the two parts of each desiring their other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one. This parable is meant to evoke how ancient is the desire of one another implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of humankind. When separated, having one side only, we are always looking for our other half. And when one of us meets our other half, we are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other's sight even for a moment. We should pass our whole lives together, desiring that we should be melted into one, to spend our lives as one person instead of two, and so that after our death there will be one departed soul instead of two; this is the very expression of our ancient need. And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called Love. If you are both willing to make real the ideals that confer meaning onto your vow to see differences as a means to a more inclusive and universal Love, join hands and make known your love."

Adapted from "To My Wife" by T.S. Eliot
"Be to whom each owes the leaping delight

That quickens the senses in your waking time
And the rhythm that governs the repose of sleeping time,
The breathing in unison
Of lives whose bodies smell of each other
Who think the same thoughts without need of speech
And babble the same speech without the need of meaning
No peevish winter wind shall chill
No sullen tropic sun shall wither
The roses in the rose-garden which is yours and yours only."

From "The Irrational Season" by Madeleine L'Engle
“But ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take. It is indeed a fearful gamble. Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature. To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take. If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation. It takes a lifetime to learn another person. When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected."

From "Maktub" by Palo Coelho

"In this world there is always
one person waiting for another,
be it in the middle of a desert
or in the middle of a big city.
And when those people pass each other
and their eyes meet,
past and future lose all importance,
and the only thing that exists
is that moment and the incredible certainty
that everything under the sun
was written by the same Hand,
the Hand that awakens Love,
and that makes a twin soul for everyone who works,
rests and seeks treasure under the sun.
Without this our human dreams
would make no sense,"

From "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupery
"One only understands the things that one tames." said the fox. So the little prince tamed the fox. And the fox said, "And now here is my secret. a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." "What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. "It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important." "It is the time I have wasted for my rose" said the little price so that he would be sure to remember. "Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose." "I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated so that he would be sure to remember.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
"It's nice when grown people whisper to each other under the covers. Their ecstasy is more leaf-sigh than bray and the body is the vehicle, not the point. They reach, grown people, for something beyond, way beyond and way, way down underneath tissue. They are remembering while they whisper the carnival doll they won and the Baltimore boats they never sailed on. The pears they let hang on the limb because if they plucked them, they would be gone from there and who else would see that ripeness if they took it away for themselves? How could anybody passing by see them and imagine for themselves what the flavor would be like? Breathing and murmuring under covers both of them have washed and hung out on the line, in a bed they chose together and kept together never mind one leg was propped on a 1916 dictionary and the mattress, curved like a preacher'r palm asking for witnesses in His name's sake, enclosed them each and every night and muffled their whispering, old-time love. They are under the covers because they don"t have to look at themselves anymore; there is no stud's eye, no chippie glance to undo them. They are inward toward the other, bound and joined by carnival dolls and the steamers that sailed from ports they never saw. That is what is beneath their undercover whispers.But there is another part, not so secret. The part that touches fingers when one passes the cup and saucer to the other. The part that closes her neckline snap while waiting for the trolley, and brushes lint from his blue serge suit when they come out of the movie house into the sunlight. I envy them their public love. I myself have only known it in secret, shared it in secret and longed, aw longed to show it – to be able to say out loud what they have no need to say at all: That I have loved only you, surrendered my whole self reckless to you and nobody else. That I want you to love me back and show it to me. I like your fingers on and on, lifting, turning. I have watched your face for a long time now, and missed your eyes when you went away from me. Talking to you and hearing you answer - that's the kick. "

From "To Know Yourself" by Swami Satchidananda
"A wedding is between two reflections of God. Two pairs of eyes see one vision. They arededicated to serve one another and the humanity at large. Two minds come together to help each other realize their true nature. Going side by side with the right partner is a good way to reach God quickly. When the husband's and the wife's love for each other blends together and becomes love of God, marriage is a divine institution."

Excerpt from "A Gift From The Sea" by Ann Morrow Lindbergh
"A good relationship has a pattern like dance. The partners do not need to hold on tightly, because they move confidently in the same pattern, intricate, but swift and free. There is no place here for the possessive clutch, the clinging arm, the heavy hand. Because they know they are partners, moving to the same rhythm, creating a pattern together, and being invisibly nourished by it. The joy of such a pattern is not only the joy of creation, or the joy of participation, it is also the joy of living in the moment. One cannot dance well unless one is completely in time with the music, not leaning back to the last step, or pressing forward to the next one, but poised directly on the present step as it comes. But how does one learn this technique of the dance? Why is it so difficult? What makes us hesitate and stumble? It is fear, I think, that makes one cling nostalgically to the last moment, or clutch greedily toward the next. Fear can only be exorcised by its opposite... love. When the heart is flooded with love there is no room in it for fear, for doubt, for hesitation. And it is this lack of fear that makes for the dance. The partners only know that they love, and are moving to its music."

From "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alligeri
"The love of God, unutterable and perfect, Flows into a pure soul the way that light Rushes into a transparent object. The more love that it finds, the more it gives Itself; so that, as we grow clear and open, the more complete the joy of loving is. And the more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love, for, mirror-like, each soul reflects the others."

From the Icelandic Sagas
"This comes from a retelling of the Sagas that was written in 1909. It is the ending to the story of Ingebjorg and Frithiof. They were lovers who, in the true romantic style, had to overcome the crosses of birth right and station in life, the objections and concerns of family, and the trials of the hero's journey. It was a journey that their love and their will to be together, would ultimately set them forth on. In the end, with their woes healed and their obstacles overcome, her hand was finally put into his to be his wife, and I quote from there: `Thus steps of sorrow had led them to the height of happiness That poets love to sing. Paths thick with thorns had blossomed into roses, Wreaths of everlasting flowers Had crowned the winter snows. And midst the lights and shadows of the old Northland, Their lives flowed on, like two united streams That roll through quiet pastures To the ocean of eternity.' May our Bride and Groom's trials also be behind them, and may their future be as blessed as those in the myths and tales of old."