I was just wondering what you guys think about the following readings that my fiancee and I have picked for our ceremony (my parents don't think they're spiritual or meaningful enough). FYI - we're having a same sex marriage in a courtyard, are not religious, and aren't planning on doing any kind of unity ceremony (sand, candles, broom, etc). Thanks!
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 both say to the
world, this- is my wife.
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 that 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.