My Community Bio
	Knot Name:  WeddingReadings
	Where you'll find me on The Knot (favorite board): Ceremony Ideas & Issues
	About our wedding: BLESSING 1. 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 And may the hand of a friend always be near. From this day forward. 2. Apache Wedding Prayer: 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 is no more loneliness, For each of you will be companion to the other. Now you are two bodies, But there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place To enter into the days of your togetherness And may your days be good and long upon the earth. 3. Scottish Wedding Prayer: Lord help us to remember when We first met and the strong love that grew between us. To work that love into practical things so that nothing can divide us. We ask for words both kind and loving and hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as to forgive. Dear Lord, we put our marriage into your hands. 4. God in heaven above please protect the ones we love. We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together. We ask for our marriage to e abundant and grow stronger through the seasons; we ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts. We ask that we sail through life safe and calm as in our Father*s arms; We ask that our relatiohsip never thrirst for love. With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness as we forever grow young toether. ( adapted from a Cherokee prayer.) 5. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord ake his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance unto to you, and give you peace. 6. Another Irish Wedding Blessing You are the star of each night, You are the brightness of every morning, You are the story of each guest, You are the report of every land. No evil shall befall you, on hill nor bank, In field or valley, on mountain or in glen. Neither above, nor below, neither in sea, Nor on shore, in skies above, Nor in the depths. You are the kernel of my heart, You are the face of my sun, You are the harp of my music, You are the crown of my company 7. Scottish Blessing of the Elements Deep peace of the running wave to you Deep peace of the flowing air to you Deep peace of the quiet earth to you Deep peace of the shining stars to you Deep peace of the spirit of peace to you 8. Wedding Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson Lord, behold our family here assembled.We thank you for this place in which we dwell,for the love that unites us,for the peace accorded us this day,for the hope with which we expect the morrow,for the health, the work, the food,and the bright skies that make our lives delightful;for our friends in all parts of the earth.Amen POEMS 1. As long as the moon shall rise, As long as the rivers shall flow,As long as the sun shall shine, As long as the grass shall grow. 2. Love For Love - By Robert Burns Ithers seek they ken na what, Features, carriage, and a` that; Gie me love in her I court, Love to love makes a` the sport. Let love sparkle in her e`e; Let her lo`e nae man but me; That`s the tocher-gude* I prize, There the luver`s treasure lies. (~*tocher-gude = marriage portion ) 3. My Luve - by Robert Burns O my luve is like a red, red rose, That`s newly sprung in June: O my luve is like the melodie, That`s sweetly played in tune. As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a` the seas gang dry. Till a` the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi` the sun; And I will luve thee still my dear, While the sands o` life shall run. And fare thee weel, my only luve! And fare thee weel a while! And I will come again, my luve, Tho` it were ten thousand mile 4. I Love You by Roy Croft: (Edited Version) What works well with this poem is to introduce it in the following manner: ____and _____ , I am about to read a poem written by Roy Croft titled, “I Love You.” As I read this poem, I invite you to look into each other*s eyes and silently let these words flow from your heart to your partner*s heart. ********* 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 looking deeply into my heaped-up heart and gently passing over all the foolish, and 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 through your touch, through your looks through your words, and through your very being. You have done it simply by being yourself. Perhaps, after all, that is what being a friend really means. 5. You are my husband / wife. My legs run because of you. My feet dance because of you. My heart shall beat because of you. My eyes see because of you. My mind thinks because of you. And I shall love because of you. 6. Married Love by a medieval poet around 1200AD You and I Have so much love, That it burns like a fire, In which we bake a lump of clay Molded into a figure of you And a figure of me. Then we take both of them. And break them into pieces, And mix the pieces with water, And mold again a figure of you And a figure of me. I am in your clay. You are in my clay. In life we share a single quilt, In death we will share one coffin. 7. Captain Corelli**s Mandolin by Louis 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 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. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two. 8. i carry your heart with me by ee cummings i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it**s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that*s keeping the stars apart i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart) 9. Love is More Thicker Than Forget by e e cummings love is more thicker than forget more thinner than recall more seldom than a wave is wet more frequent than to fail it is most mad and moonly and less it shall unbe than all the sea which only is deeper than the sea love is less always than to win less never than alive less bigger than the least begin less littler than forgive it is more sane and sunly and more it cannot die than all the sky which only is higher than the sky 18. The Way The Forest Shelters, by Rabia I know about love the way the fields know about light, the way the forest shelters, the way an animal**s divine raw desire seeks to unite with whatever might please its soul--without a single strange thought of remorse. There is a powerful delegation in us that lobbies every moment for contentment. How will you ever find peace unless you yield to love the way the gracious earth does to our hand*s impulse? 10. The Bargain by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86) 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. His heart in me keeps him and me in one, My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides: 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. 11. Somewhere I have never traveled by e.e. cummings somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond any experience, your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which i cannot touch because they are too near your slightest look easily will unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens (touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose or if your wish be to close me, i and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending; nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals the power of your intense fragility: whose texture compels me with the colour of its countries, rendering death and forever with each breathing (I do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands 12. How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday*s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old grief*s, and with my childhood*s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. - I love thee with the breath, Smile, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose, I shall but love the better after death. 13. “Two Trees” by Janet Miles A portion of your soul has been entwined with mine. A gentle kind of togetherness, while separately we stand. As two trees deeply rooted in separate pots of ground, While their topmost branches come together, Forming a miracle of lace against the heavens. 14. Exerpt from Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda (first one translated by Stephen Tapscott) I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; So I love you because I know no other way Than this: where I does not exist, nor you, So close that your hand on my chest is my hand, So close that your eyes lose as I fall asleep." 15. alternative translation (Translated by Stephen Mitchell): I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I don*t know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close. READINGS: 1. Marriage Means Being In Love for the Rest of Your Life - 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. 2. Reading by Walter Pinder Everyday you live, learn how to receive love with as much understanding as you give it. Find things within yourself, then you can share them with each other. Do not fear this love. Have an open heart and a sincere mind. Be sincerely interested in each other*s happiness. Be constant and consistent in your love. From this comes security and strength. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us on this day of your marriage. Try to commit yourselves fully and freely to each other. 3. Love Is The Reason Love is the reason why this day was chosen by you both to begin your lives together and love is the reason why you both will give with all hearts for the good of each other. Love is the reason that together you will become one; one in hope; one in believing in life; one in sharing the coming years. 4. The Art of a Good Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson The little things are the big things.It is never being too old to hold hands.It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.It is never going to sleep angry. It is never taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.It is finding room for the things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner,it is being the right partner. 5. Marriage is Love by Gloria Matthew If two are caring as they are sharing life*s hopes and fears.If the music of laughter outweighs sadness and tears.Marriage is togetherness. If both derive pleasure from the mere presence of each other, yet when parted no jealousies restrict, worry or smother. Marriage is freedom. If achievements mean more when they benefit two and consideration is shown with each point of view.Marriage is respect.And if togetherness, freedom and respect are combined with a joy that words can never fully define, then marriage is love. 6. From The Irrational Season By Madeleine L*Engl 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. 7. Love Song by Rainer Maria Rilke How can I keep my soul in me, so that it doesn*t touch your soul? How can I raise it high enough, past you, to other things? I would like to shelter it, among remote lost objects, in some dark and silent place that doesn*t resonate when your depths resound.Yet everything that touches us, me and you, takes us together like a violin*s bow, which draws one voice out of two separate strings. Upon what instrument are we two spanned?And what musician holds us in his hand?Oh sweetest song. 8. (revised version from Tolkein*s two towers) When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bough; When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the brow; When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold, Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold; When Fall loosens the hanging fruit and burns the berry brown; When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town; When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last; When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past; Together we journey on the road that leads into the West, And in that land, we*ll make a home where both our hearts may rest. 9. And the Full version from Tolkein*s Two Towers. ENT: When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bough; When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the brow; When stride is long, and breath is deep, and keen the mountain-air, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is fair! ENTWIFE.: When Spring is come to garth and field, and corn is in the blade; When blossom like a shining snow is on the orchard laid; When shower and Sun upon the Earth with fragrance fill the air, I*ll linger here, and will not come, because my land is fair. ENT.: When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold; When woodland halls are green and cool, and wind is in the West, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best! ENTWIFE. : When Summer warms the hanging fruit and burns the berry brown; When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town; When honey spills, and apple swells, though wind be in the West, I*ll linger here beneath the Sun, because my land is best! ENT.: When Winter comes, the winter wild that hill and wood shall slay; When trees shall fall and starless night devour the sunless day; When wind is in the deadly East, then in the bitter rain I*ll look for thee, and call to thee; I*ll come to thee again! ENTWIFE : When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last; When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past; I*ll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again: Together we will tkae the road beneath the bitter rain! BOTH : Together we will take the road that leads into the West, And far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest. 10. "Gift From The sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh One recognizes the truth of Saint Exupery''s line: Love does not consist in gazing at each other. But in looking outward together in the same direction. For in fact, man and woman are not only looking outward in the same direction, they are working outward. Here one forms ties, roots, a firm base....Here one makes oneself part of the community of men, of human society. Here the bonds of marriage are formed. For marriage, which is always spoken of as a bond, becomes actually, in this stage, many bonds, many strands, of different texture and strength, making up a web that is taut and firm. The web is fashioned of love. Yes, but many kinds of love: romantic love first, then a slow-growing devotion and, playing through these, a constantly rippling companionship. It is made of loyalties, and interdependencies, and shared experiences. It is woven of memories of meetings and conflicts; of triumphs and disappointments. It is a web of communication, a common language, and the acceptance of lack of language too, a knowledge of likes and dislikes, of habits and reactions, both physical and mental. It is a web of instincts and intuitions, and known and unknown exchanges. The web of marriage is made in the day to day living side by side, looking outward and working outward in the same direction. It is woven in space and in time of the substance of life itself… 11. A selection from the Honey Bee by Anatole France “It is not enough to love passionately: you must also love well. A passionate love is good for sure, but a beautiful love is better. May you have as much strength as gentleness; may it lack nothing, not even forbearance, and let even a little compassion be mingled with it. You are human and, because of this, capable of much suffering. If then something of compassion doesnot enter into the feelings you have one for the other, these feelings will not always befit all the circumstances of your life together; they will be like festive robes that will not shield you from wind and rain. We love truly only those we love even in their weakness and poverty. To forbear, to forgive, to console - that alone is the science of love.” 12. Rainer Marie Wilke''s Letters: Marriage is in many ways a simplification of life, and it naturally combines the strengths and wills of two 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, and a great new danger for both.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 his 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 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. 13. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation. Loving does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person — it is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become something in himself, to become world, to become world in himself for the sake of another person; it is a great, demanding claim upon him, something that chooses him and calls him to vast distances. 14. Kahlil Gibran on Marriage from The Prophet Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, Master? And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other''s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other''s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other''s shadow. 15. From The Prophet by Kahil 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. 16. From the 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. Readings from Childeren*s books 1. ~ The Velveteen Rabbit "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 loose in your 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." "I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled. "The Boy*s Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can*t become unreal again. It lasts for always." BIBLE VERSES Listen for the word of God as found in…. 1. ~~~ From the book of RUTH ~~~ And Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God; where you die I will die and there will I be buried. May the lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you. 2. John 15: 12-13 This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this: to lay down one*s life for one*s friends. 3. Corinthians I 13. If I speak in the tongues of humanity and of angels but have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, and understand all myseteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love I am nothing. Love is patient and king; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irraitable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…So faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” 4. Longer more contemporary version of Corinthians : Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels - but do not have love, I am only sounding brass or tinkling cymbals. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains – but do not have love, I am nothing. Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned but do not have love, it profits me nothing.Love endures and is kind. Love is not envious or jealous. Love wants not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not its own, it is not easily provoked, and thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness - but in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. Where there are prophecies, they shall fail, where there be tongues, they shall cease, where there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is part shall be done away with. When I was a child I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child. When I became an adult, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly - as in a mirror - but then we shall see face to face. At present I know partially, then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain- these three- but the greatest of tof these is love. 5. Song of Solomon/ Song of Songs Ch. 2, My beloved speaks and says to me Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, The time of singing has come, From the book of Ruth Wherever You Go, I Will Go Wherever You Live, There Shall I Live Your People Will Be My People And Your God Will Be My God Too. Wherever You Die, I Shall Die And There Shall I Be Buried Beside You We Will Be Together Forever And Our Love Will Be The Gift Of Our Life. We Will Be Together Forever, And Our Love Will Be The Gift Of Our Life.
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