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We are gathered here today to witness the coming
together of two people, ____________ and ____________,
whose hearts and spirits are entwined as one. They now
desire to profess before all the world their intention
henceforth to walk the road of life together.
To these two young people, this marriage signifies the
birth of a new spirit, a spirit which is a part of each
of us, yet not of any one of us alone. This "birth of
spirit" reminds us of spring, the season when all life
is reborn and looms again. It is appropriate, therefore,
that this wedding of ____________ and ____________ be in
the spring, and that it be under the open sky, where we
are close to the earth and to the unity of life, the
totality of living things of which we are part.
The beliefs and thoughts about love which motivate these
two people are perhaps best expressed in the words of
poet Kahlil Gibran:
"You were born to be together, and together you shall be
forevermore.
You shall be together when the wings of death scatter
your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in your silent memory.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heaven dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bondage 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 of the same
loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each 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 shadow."
Do you ____________, knowing this man's love for you and
returning it, realizing his strengths and learning from
them, recognizing his weaknesses and helping him to
overcome them, take ____________ to be your lawfully
wedded husband?
Bride answers "I do."
Place the ring on his finger.
Do you ____________, knowing this woman's love for you
and returning it, realizing her strengths and learning
form them, recognizing her weaknesses and helping her to
overcome them, take ____________ to be your lawfully
wedded wife?
Groom answers "I do."
Place the ring on her finger. Let these rings serve as
locks–not binding you together–but as keys, unlocking
the secrets of your hearts for each other to know, and
thus bringing you closer together forever.
And now ____________ and ____________, seeking the
fulfillment of love and marriage, find again that the
poet Gibran speaks for them:
"Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks to
another day of loving.
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home eventide with gratitude, and then sleep
with a prayer
For the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon
your lips."
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
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