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Spiritual Wedding Readings.... these aren't religious, they touch on the spiritual connection of love. |
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PRIVILEGED Lovers
The moon has become a dancer
at this festival of love.
This dance of light,
This sacred blessing,
This divine love,
beckons us
to a world beyond
only lovers can see
with their eyes of fiery passion.
They are the chosen ones
who have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind
the world of deceitful games.
They are the privileged lovers
who create a new world
with their eyes of fiery passion.
-Jalalud'din Rumi, 13th Century revered mystical poet
at this festival of love.
This dance of light,
This sacred blessing,
This divine love,
beckons us
to a world beyond
only lovers can see
with their eyes of fiery passion.
They are the chosen ones
who have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind
the world of deceitful games.
They are the privileged lovers
who create a new world
with their eyes of fiery passion.
-Jalalud'din Rumi, 13th Century revered mystical poet
The Most alive moment
The most living moment comes when those
who love each other meet each other’s eyes
and in what flows between them then.
To see your face in a crowd of others,
or alone on a frightening street,
I weep for that.
Our tears improve the earth.
The time you scolded me, your gratitude,
your laughing,
always your qualities increase the soul.
Seeing you
is a wine that does not muddle or numb.
We sit inside the cypress shadow
where amazment and clear thought
twine its growth into it.
- Rumi
who love each other meet each other’s eyes
and in what flows between them then.
To see your face in a crowd of others,
or alone on a frightening street,
I weep for that.
Our tears improve the earth.
The time you scolded me, your gratitude,
your laughing,
always your qualities increase the soul.
Seeing you
is a wine that does not muddle or numb.
We sit inside the cypress shadow
where amazment and clear thought
twine its growth into it.
- Rumi
A Touch of Heart
There was a time ... a moment I felt all alone but then the sun shined upon me bearing gifts of love, friendship and harmony Everlasting love shared and expressed through you to me. The prayers, the cares, the gestures brought forth to me heal my soul For at times I'd only known to give but failed to accept and receive with grace. I'm not alone now for your warmth overwhelms me your spirit fills my soul, and I am ALIVE with your love.
Two Souls, One Life
Before the heavens and the earth, when we were still a part of the Great Spirit, you and I asked for a journey to be remembered for all time. Out of Love our hearts desires answered and we were granted these lives.
Today we fulfill that destiny and begin the journey of a lifetime. We were once one soul, then we became two, and were born into this world. We have lived lives separate. Now let us give thank to the Great Spirit for loving us enough to allow our love for each other to be expressed. yesterday we were two souls, today we are one life.
Today we fulfill that destiny and begin the journey of a lifetime. We were once one soul, then we became two, and were born into this world. We have lived lives separate. Now let us give thank to the Great Spirit for loving us enough to allow our love for each other to be expressed. yesterday we were two souls, today we are one life.
From The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
You shall be together forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. You shall be together even in the silent memory of God. Let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not above 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.
Medieval Wedding Prayer
"Our Father, who art in heaven above,
So holy be thy name. Your kingdom is upon us
and only thy Will shall we do
Here on the soil you doth provide, as for
your angels in heaven.
We are thankful for our daily bread and spirit
and be forgiving of our faults as we find others faultless
OH Lord turn our eyes from temptations and be our holy protector from evil
For God yours is the entirety of the world, with all power,
And all goodness and might is Yours for eternity.
Amen
So holy be thy name. Your kingdom is upon us
and only thy Will shall we do
Here on the soil you doth provide, as for
your angels in heaven.
We are thankful for our daily bread and spirit
and be forgiving of our faults as we find others faultless
OH Lord turn our eyes from temptations and be our holy protector from evil
For God yours is the entirety of the world, with all power,
And all goodness and might is Yours for eternity.
Amen
The Apache Wedding Blessing
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.
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.
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 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!
Irish Blessings
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.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
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 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.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
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.
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
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
Thoughts In a Garden, By R. Gerhardt
This is a special place, a place where people have brought beautiful living plants, here to establish them, to nurture and care for them, that they may forever surround us with the beauty we now see. And into this place where we stand, you have brought something beautiful -- the relationship that is becoming your marriage. Here you are declaring it and pledging it, promising to establish and nurture it. We are aware of the special beauty between the two of you, just as we are aware of the special beauty of this place. We are with you now in this appropriate place to celebrate your relationship as it is and as it is yet to be, and in doing so, we ask only that you remember how your life together will have the same seasons and needs as this garden. There will be growth like spring and loss like fall; there will be giving as the blossoming flower, and rest as the seed beneath the snow. All the seasons will be yours, but remember, too, that gardens are not must happenings. The more wonderful the garden, the more skilled the gardener. So you will have to care deeply for the life that is yours together, and nurture it. You will have to appreciate your differences and cultivate them. You will have to take care of yourself, if for no other reason than out of love for the other. And you will need the support of family and friends to reach full growth. As you caringly chose this place to declare your marriage, so remember its lessons for your life together through the seasons that are yours to share. And may those seasons bring you and yours joy and happiness.
The Covenant of Marriage
Marriage has certain qualities of contract, in which two people take on the housekeeping tasks of living, together, to enhance life’s joy. However, marriage is more than a contract. Marriage is a commitment to take that joy deep, deeper than happiness, deep into the discovery of who you most truly are. It is a commitment to a spiritual journey, to a life of becoming -- in which joy can comprehend despair, running through rivers of pain into joy again. And thus marriage is even deeper than commitment. It is a covenant -- a covenant that says: I love you. I trust you. I will be here for you when you are hurting, And when I am hurting I will not leave. It is a covenant intended not to provide haven from pain or anger and sorrow. Life offers no such haven. Instead, marriage is intended to provide a sanctuary safe enough to risk loving, to risk living and sharing from the center of oneself. This is worth everything.
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 desires are working for 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.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Love me because I try to touch life within the framework of uncertainty. Love in me the shadows of my indecision as I strive to gain knowledge. Love in me the silence of my hurts and the noise of my confusions. Love me for the feeling of my heart not the fears of my mind. Love me in my search for the truth though I may stumble upon fallacy. Love me as I pursue my dreams sometimes retarded by illusions. Love me as I grow to know myself even during the times of stagnation. Love me because I seek God's harmony not man's discord. Love me for my body that I wish to share with affection, wrapping you in warmth. Love me because we are different as we are the same. Love me that our time together will be spent in growing, kindling the world with understanding. Love me not with expectations but with hope. I will love you the same.
The Indian Serenade, by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I arise from dreams of thee In the first sweet sleep of night, When the winds are breathing low, And the stars are shining bright: I arise from dreams of thee, And a spirit in my feet Hath led me--who knows how? To thy chamber window, Sweet!
The wandering airs they faint On the dark, the silent stream-- The Champak odours fail Like sweet thoughts in a dream; The nightingale's complaint, It dies upon her heart;-- As I must on thine, Oh, beloved as thou art!
Oh lift me from the grass! I die! I faint! I fail! Let thy love in kisses rain On my lips and eyelids pale. My cheek is cold and white, alas! My heart beats loud and fast;-- Oh! press it to thine own again, Where it will break at last.
The wandering airs they faint On the dark, the silent stream-- The Champak odours fail Like sweet thoughts in a dream; The nightingale's complaint, It dies upon her heart;-- As I must on thine, Oh, beloved as thou art!
Oh lift me from the grass! I die! I faint! I fail! Let thy love in kisses rain On my lips and eyelids pale. My cheek is cold and white, alas! My heart beats loud and fast;-- Oh! press it to thine own again, Where it will break at last.
In the Buddhist Tradition
"In the future, happy occasions will come as surely as the morning. Difficult times will come as surely as the night. When things go joyously, meditate according to the Buddhist tradition. When things go badly, meditate. Meditation in the manner of the Compassionate Buddha will guide your life. To say the words 'love and compassion' is easy. But to accept that love and compassion are built upon patience and perseverance is not easy."
