Sample Ceremony 5

Ceremony 5

Processional

Welcome
Holy and beautiful is the custom which brings us together today in the presence of love. Holy and beautiful is the call to mark the growth of love, as it flowers from hope to purpose, and enlarges commitment into sturdy roots. Here in the presence of God and creation, in this circle of affection and rejoicing, we hallow a place and a moment for _____ _____ _____ and _____ _____ _____ to speak what is in their hearts. As we bear witness to their pledge of love and loyalty, may we find our own faith in life’s generosity, our own hope for love, and our own power to gladden the lives of others restored again within our own hearts. Enter now into this celebration, to rejoice in the happiness of this hour, and to honor the courage of these two people and of all those who reach out, in spite of earth’s dusty imperfections and the brokenness of our days, for what is bright and lasting and best in life.

Reading

Not long after meeting, _____ sent this, one of her favorite poems, to _____. From e.e. cummings:

somewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands
e.e.cummings

Homily
_____ and _____, somewhere you have never traveled, beyond all your experience, you are traveling today. Today you open yet another level of yourselves to one another. Today you put your tenderness into the care of one another, and together blossom into something new. This is the greatest hope of a marriage of hearts and souls.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, offers this council on love:
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful.
It is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way.
It is not prone to anger; nor does it brood over injuries.
Love does not rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. (I Corinthians 13: 4-8)

These are such good words for a wedding because not only do they hold up a high ideal of love, they also acknowledge it is an impossibly high ideal. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” That is, we are imperfect, our relationships are imperfect. There will be times, in fact, when you are impatient, jealous, rude or angry, and yet, love can endure all these things, it can carry you through.

As two women making the commitment of marriage to one another, you will no doubt find some difficulties beyond those that come in any partnership. There will be those few who will not accept, who will react with fear. Understand their behavior for the fear it is and with your lack of retaliation, they will, in time, come to admire your dignity as one human being to another. This will require strength and courage and patience on your part, and these qualities must be supported in one another. Together you will withstand more than if each were alone.

Rejoice in the knowledge that you have friends and family who share your joy in this day. They will continue to need you both just as you will need them. Be wise, therefore, and call upon these people who are closest to your hearts, for in your love for one another, you can demonstrate a fuller, wider, more encompassing love for all human beings.

As we talked about this ceremony and what it meant to each of you, you spoke of being drawn to each other because of integrity, caring, the centrality of family, and the beauty you found in one another. You said that more than anything, you want the other to be happier. You said “I can’t imagine my life without her.” This is the sure ground from which you begin your new journey of marriage today. You are traveling to a place beyond your experience, open and vulnerable to each other, yet secure in the knowledge that now you will travel as one.

_____ and _____, are you ready now to make the promises that will bind your lives together for the journey? We are!

Exchange of vows
Join hands please.

I, _____, take you, _____,
To be my wife,

In plenty and in want,
In joy and in sorrow,
In sickness and in health.

Honoring all that you have been,
Helping us to become even greater
Loving what I know of you,
Trusting what I don’t yet know.

I will share my mind, body and soul
Openly, honestly and without reservation.

I promise to be loyal to you with all my being
For as long as we both shall live.

With these words
and all the unspoken words of my heart
I marry you and bind my life to yours.

Exchange of rings
May I have the rings, please.

The circle is a symbol of the sun and the earth and the universe. It is a symbol of holiness and of perfection and of peace. These rings are symbols of the unity with which your two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle, and in which, wherever you go, you will always return unto one another to your togetherness.

_____, as you place this ring on _____’s hand, please repeat after me.

With this ring
I wed you for today
And for all the tomorrows to come.
Please wear it as a sign to all the world
That you have chosen me to be your wife.

Pronouncement
_____ and _____, you have declared your intentions and exchanged tokens of your love. What you desire has come to pass. I now pronounce you married. Congratulations!

Kiss

Benediction
May your love for one another grow deeper and stronger through the years.
May the good true light within guide you on your journey together.
May you learn from one another what it is to be loved completely and wholly, and then may you turn that love outward and share it with the world.
And long, long years from now, may you look at one another and be able to say, “Because of you, I have lived the life I always wanted to live – because of you, I have become the person I longed to be.”

May it be so.