And true love holds with gentle hands. The hearts that it entwines. THE
NOTEBOOK. ~ Nicholas Sparks ~. Poets often describe love as an emotion that
we can't.
Wedding Readings OLD TESTAMENT Genesis 1:26-28, 31; 2:18-24 Psalms 23, 33, 34, 37:3-7, 67, 100, 103, 112, 117, 121, 127, 128, 136, 145, 148, 150 Song of Solomon 2:8-13, 8:6-7 Jeremiah 31:31-34 Isaiah 54: 5-8 Hosea 2:16-23 EPISTLES Romans 8:31-39; 12:1-2, 9-18 I Corinthians 6:15-20, 13:1-13 Ephesians 3:14-21; 5:2, 21-33 Colossians 3:12-17 I Peter 3:1-9 I John 3:18-24, 4:7-16 Revelation 19:1, 5-9 GOSPELS Matthew 5:1-12; 5:13-16; 7:21, 24-29; 19:3-6; 22:35-40 Mark 10:6-9, 13-16 John 2:1-11, 15:9-17
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. THE NOTEBOOK ~ Nicholas Sparks ~ Poets often describe love as an emotion that we can’t control, one that overwhelms logic and common sense. That’s what it’s like for me. I didn’t plan on falling in love with you, and I doubt that you planned on falling in love with me. But once we met, it was clear that neither of us could control what was happening to us. We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me love like that has happened only once, and that’s why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I’ll never forget a single moment of it.
EXCERPT FROM "THE GIFT FROM THE SEA" ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~
Love ~ Ann Landers ~
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.
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!
September ~ Josephine Johnson ~ But of deep love is the desire to give More than the living touch of warmth and fire, More than the shy comfort of the little flesh and hands; It is the need to give Down to the last dark kernel of the heart, Down to the final gift of mind; It is a need to give you that release which comes Only of understanding, and to know Trust without whimpering doubt and fear.
A Wedding Prayer ~ Dana McLean Greeley ~ We pray for concord and creativity as well as for love and laughter in their life together; and when there is pain, may there be peace that passes not away. We pray for joy that they will share with other people, and for their home; may it be a temple for that which is beautiful and good and true. As they share the richer experiences of life, so may their hearts and minds and souls be knit ever more closely together. And yet may their bonds of sympathy strengthen their separate personalities. We pray for courage for them when the road is rough, and for humility for them when fortune favors them. May they carry the past gratefully with them in all the years of their sojourn, and with an equal measure of hope ever face the future unafraid.
I Promise ~ Dorothy R. Colgan ~
Song of Songs ~ T.J. Meek ~
I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give. I promise to respect you as your own person and to realize that your interests, desires and needs are no less important than my own. I promise to share with you my time and my attention and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship. I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams. I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting. I promise to love you in good times and bad, with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how. Completely and forever.
Rise, my love, my beautiful one, come away; For, see the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers have appeared on the earth, the time of song has come; And the call of the dove is heard in our land; The fig tree is putting forth its figs And the blossoming grapevines give forth fragrance. Rise my love, my beautiful one, come away.
A Selection ~ Paul Eluard ~ Between us a new morning Is being born from our flesh Just the right way To put everything into shape We are moving just the right footsteps ahead And the earth says hello to us The day has all our rainbows The fireplace is lit with our eyes And the ocean celebrates our marriage
O my dove in the clefts of the rocks, in the recesses of the cliffs, Let me see your form, let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, and your form is comely. Rise, my love, my beautiful one, come away. 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.
Untitled ~ Rabindranath Tagore (tr. Indu Dutt) ~
LOVE IS… ~ Author Unknown ~
It is for the union of you and me that there is light in the sky. It is for the union of you and me that the earth is decked in dusky green.
Love is…giving and receiving, touches of tenderness, patience, loyalty and trust. Love is…forgiveness and healing, hearing what’s not being said, freedom and gentle boundaries. Love is…sharing sorrows and joys, a hug when needed, comfortable silence. Love is…compromise, not needing the last word, harmony. Love is…smiles and laughter, a shelter in a storm. Love is…letting go and holding on, Heart to heart talks, Forgiving and forgetting, Unconditional. Love is…seeing miracles together.
It is for the union of you and me that night sits motionless with the world in her arms; dawn appears opening the eastern door with sweet murmurs in her voice. The boat of hope sails along on the currents of eternity towards that union, flowers of the ages are being gathered together for its welcoming ritual. It is for the union of you and me that this heart of mine, in the garb of a bride, has proceeded from birth to birth upon the surface of this ever-turning world To choose the Beloved. Ceremony of the Wine Cup ~ Kenneth L. Patton ~ The years of our lives are a cup of wine poured out for us to drink. The grapes when they are pressed give forth their good juices for the wine. Under the wine press of time our lives give forth their labor and honor and love. Many days you will sit at the same table and eat and drink together. Drink now, and may the cup of your lives be sweet and full to running over. (Then the bride and groom shall drink.)
THE NOTEBOOK ~ Nicholas Sparks ~ The best love is the kind that weakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that’s what you’ve given me. That’s what I hope to give to you forever.
UNTITLED ~ Author Unknown ~
EXCERPT FROM THE VELVETEEN RABBIT ~ By Margery Williams ~
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, difficult 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.
"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?"
TITLE UNKNOWN ~ By Carl Sandburg ~ I love you for what you are, but I love you yet more for what you are going to be. I love you not so much for your realities as for your ideals. I pray for your desires that they may be great, rather than for your satisfactions, which may be so hazardously little. A satisfied flower is one whose petals are about to fall. The most beautiful rose is one hardly more than a bud wherein the pangs and ecstasies of desire are working for a larger and finer growth. Not always shall you be what you are now. You are going forward toward something great. I am on the way with you and therefore I love you.
"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."
FOUNDATIONS OF MARRIAGE by Regina Hill Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything...In marriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together. Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as a friend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each other to be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in total agreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly three things need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness.
Wedding Ceremony Readings
