Readings

A reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

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.

(from Captain Corelli's Mandolin)

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Anasazi Prayer

May the Love between us be Strong

May the Trust between us be Whole

and may the Words between us be True.

May our eyes See one another

May our ears Hear one another

May our hearts Touch one another

and may our souls Hold one another.

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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 to 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 embrace one another, but not out encircle 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.

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My Friend 

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

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.

Mi Amigo 

Yo te amo

no solo por lo que tu eres

sino por lo que soy

cuando estoy contigo.

Yo te amo

no solo por lo que

tu haz hecho de  ti mismo

sino por lo que tu estas haciendo de mi.

Yo te amo

porque tu haz hecho más

de lo que cualquier credo hubiese podido hacer

para hacerme bien, y más de lo

que cualquier destino hubiese  podido hacer

para hacerme feliz.

Tu lo haz hecho sin  tocarme

sin una palabra

sin una sena

tu lo haz hecho

siendo tu mismo.

And what of marriage?

Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, 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.

Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, 

it is not proud. 

It does not dishonor others, 

it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, 

always perseveres.

Corinthians 13: 4-7)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not inflated. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered or quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury. Love does not delight over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, perseveres through all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7)

Marriage joins two people in the circle of it's love, by Edmund O'Neill

Marriage is a commitment to life,
the best that two people can find and bring out in each other.
It offers opportunities for sharing and growth
that no other relationship can equal.
It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.

Within the circle of its love,
marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships.
A wife and a husband are each other's best friend,
confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic.
And there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing,
and the love of the other may resemble
the tender caring of a parent or child.

Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life.
Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher,
commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly,
and passes away more quickly.

Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life
is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life,
new experiences, new ways of expressing
a love that is deeper than life.

When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage,
they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer
than any spoken or written words.
Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people
who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfill.

I Carry Your Heart with Me 
by E. E. 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 soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

When a man and a woman are in love

When a man and a woman are in love,

His life lies within hers,

and her life lies within his.

Each lives as an individual,

Yet they also live for one another.

Each strives for independent goals,

But they work together to achieve their dreams.

When a man and a woman are in love

They will give to one another what they need to survive

And help fulfill each other’s wants.

They will turn one another’s disappointment into satisfaction.

They will turn one another frustration into contentment.

They will work as a mirror,

Reflecting to each other their strengths and weaknesses.

They will work together

to alleviate the emotional walls that may separate them.

They will work together

to build a better understanding of one another.

They will learn to lean on each other,

but not so much as to be a burden on the other.

They will learn to reach out to one another,

but not so much that they suffocate the other.

They will learn when it is time to speak

and when it is time to listen.

They will be there to comfort each other in times of sorrow.

They will be there to celebrate together in times of happiness.

They will be one another’s friend,

guiding each other to the happiness that life holds.

They will be one another’s companion,

facing together the challenges that life may present.

When a man and a woman are in love,

his life lies within hers

and her life lies within his.

Together they will love one another for the rest of their lives and forever.

"The Apache Wedding Prayer" ~ Toni

Now you will feel no rain,

for each of you will be shelter for the other.

Now you will feel no cold,

for each will be warmth for the other

Now you will feel no loneliness,

for each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two persons,

but there are three lives before you:

his life, her life, and your life together.

May beauty surround you both

on the journey ahead and through all the years.

May happiness be your companion

to the place where the river meets the sun.

Go now to your dwelling

to enter into the days of your life together.

And may your days be good

And long upon the earth.

“La oracion del matrimonio apache”

Ahora ustedes no sentirán lluvia

porque cada uno será un refugio para el otro.

Ahora ustedes no sentirán frío

porque cada uno será  calor para el otro.

Ahora ustedes no sentirán soledad

porque cada uno será compañía para el otro.

Ahora ustedes son dos personas

pero hay tres vidas ante ustedes:

la vida de él, la vida de ella, y su vida juntos.

Ojalá que la belleza los rodee a los dos

en el camino que empiezan y a través de los años.

Ojalá que la felicidad sea su compañía

Hacia el lugar donde el río encuentra el sol.

Vayan ahora a su hogar

para comenzar los días de su vida juntos.

Y ojalá que sus días sean buenos

y duraderos sobre la tierra.

Corinthians 13

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes,what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

DAD’S BLESSING

May all that you are be in love. May all that is love, always be in you. May your love be as beautiful on each day you share as it is on this day of celebration, may each day you share be as precious to you as the day you first fell in love. May you always see and encourage the best in each other. May the challenges life brings your way make your marriage even stronger. And may you be each other’s best friend and greatest love.

A Lovely Love Story, by Edward Monkton

The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.

Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur. The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.

“I like this Dinosaur,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny. He is also quite clever, though I will not tell him this for now.”

“I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur,” thought the Dinosaur. “She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice. She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.”

“But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “He is also overly fond of things. Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?”

“But her mind skips from here to there so quickly,” thought the Dinosaur. “She is also uncommonly keen on shopping. Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?”

“I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.”

“I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping,” thought the Dinosaur. “For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.”

Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old. Look at them. Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.

And that, my friends, is how it is with love. Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together. For the sun is warm. And the world is a beautiful place