Wedding of Paula _____ and Lawrence _____
Alton, IL
July 25, 2015
Processional Music
Welcome from Minister (30 seconds or so)
First Reading-
The whole is more than the sum of its parts
By Natasha Josefowitz
(read by Wendy Shaw)
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Of course I love you
and I love me, too
but most of all I love "us"
I love the "we," the you and me,
the relationship,
the way each one
is enriched by the other
I am smarter
when you're around
you are braver
when I am there
We find each other
beautiful, brilliant
and great fun
We are each other's parent
each other's child
each other's partner, colleague
friend, consultant, lover
and accomplice
You tend to be serious
I'm rather spontaneous
you make me think more
I make you laugh more
Of course I love you
and I love me too
but most of all I love "us"
Second Reading
Sonnet XVII
By Pablo Neruda
(read by Geoff Schmidt)
“I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close it is your eyes that close as I fall asleep.”
Sermon- Rev. Wolfe (3 minutes)
We are gathered here today to celebrate the love and commitment of Paula and Larry. Today, we bear witness to this love and trust and, as a community, offer our blessing upon this new family. We share in listening to the commitments that Paula and Larry make to one another. Marriage is covenant- a spiritual and sacred promise. In this promise, you commit your bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits to one another. You covenant together to offer one another mutual growth and wisdom that only a shared life can offer. You have already begun that sharing with deep respect and mutuality.
As you have grown to love one another, so too have you begun to create a new family that cares and supports one another. You have the strengths of understanding, listening, and accepting one another as you are. There will be times when the light of love may become harder to see. There will be trials of the spirit and your union. The way you are together today shows that you can weather those storms and grow a deeper love as is only possible in such a deeply committed and loving relationship.
May you always try to enhance, rather than diminish, your spirits. This includes sharing not only your joys and successes, but also your sorrows and failures. To share and be known in this way is a priceless thing, because the acceptance and understanding that goes with it makes it easier to live with ones problems and concerns. You each have experienced this in your lives and that wisdom will further sustain and guide you.
Marriage may be a legal contract under the law, but it is so much more. Marriage is a spiritual promise grounded in the mutual love that you make to one another. The sharing that is at the heart of marriage is not the kind of sharing in which people give themselves away. A good relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered or absorbed by the other. Rather, each is empowered and strengthened. Thus it is, out of the tension in marriage between separateness and union that love, whose incredible strength is equal only to its surprising fragility, is born and reborn again and again.
As a family, you form a new circle in the web of life. Remember to support one another and to also give one another space. As Kahlil Gibran wrote, in marriage people “should stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak and cypress grow not each other’s shadow.”
Your uniqueness is part of what makes this circle so strong. Paula, you shared that you love Larry’s kindness, integrity, his stable way of being, that he is open-minded, handsome, and a great kisser. Larry, you shared that you love Paula’s compassion, her continual effort toward self-improvement, and that she receives and embraces you as the person you are. Remember these things as the roots of your marriage. Always keep in mind that these may be the same things that annoy you at times. Also, that this is just the tip of the iceberg as you learn and love more about one another. Remember to live into gratitude for one another- particularly in the difficult times- and your marriage will be long and rewarding.
May you continue to grow like trees sharing the same soil of love who offer space for the sun to reach their leaves and the air to sustain them. May the nutrients of that soil sustain you for today and for the rest of your lives together.
Vows
Exchange of Rings
Once, these rings were forged from rock, melted and shaped carefully and skillfully into their current form. Just as these rings were meticulously shaped and polished, so, day after day, is your love, melted in the fires of passion, molded by struggle and triumph, and shaped by the work of your hands and hearts. May the exchange of these rings remind you of the bond that you share and the daily work that creates your love.
Do you take one another in love and grace for today and each day into the future. If so, please say, together “we do.”
Handfasting
(Ask them to hold hands right to right and left to left. Ask Jasmine to lay the rope on top of their hands).
In a handfasting we are reminded of the bond both between this couple and the people witnessing this bond. Love is a strong bond, but sometimes we need to be reminded of the many threads that hold our commitments together. Each strand of this rope is a reminder of the many strands that weave your love and lives together. Strands of family and friends. Strands of experience and wisdom. Strands of hope and grace. Each strand forming around you strengthening you together as spouses in life.
(Have Jasmine wrap it over the top of their hands)
This is a reminder of the love and trust that you carry into your married lives. May the sacred mystery of all being bless your love. May your family and friends bless your love. May each of you bless your love as you move forward from this day. May the threads in this cloth hold you in times of trial and times of great joy.
(Have Jasmine tie the rope.)
May this rope remind you of the ties that bind and your most holy and sacred commitment this day.
Proclamation
Having made your promises before this community you enter into the next steps your adventure together. By the power vested in me by the state of Alabama, I now pronounce you partners in Life. You may kiss one another.
Announcements
Go forth and have fun!
Recessional
Welcome from Minister (30 seconds or so)
First Reading-
The whole is more than the sum of its parts
By Natasha Josefowitz
(read by Wendy Shaw)
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Of course I love you
and I love me, too
but most of all I love "us"
I love the "we," the you and me,
the relationship,
the way each one
is enriched by the other
I am smarter
when you're around
you are braver
when I am there
We find each other
beautiful, brilliant
and great fun
We are each other's parent
each other's child
each other's partner, colleague
friend, consultant, lover
and accomplice
You tend to be serious
I'm rather spontaneous
you make me think more
I make you laugh more
Of course I love you
and I love me too
but most of all I love "us"
Second Reading
Sonnet XVII
By Pablo Neruda
(read by Geoff Schmidt)
“I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close it is your eyes that close as I fall asleep.”
Sermon- Rev. Wolfe (3 minutes)
We are gathered here today to celebrate the love and commitment of Paula and Larry. Today, we bear witness to this love and trust and, as a community, offer our blessing upon this new family. We share in listening to the commitments that Paula and Larry make to one another. Marriage is covenant- a spiritual and sacred promise. In this promise, you commit your bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits to one another. You covenant together to offer one another mutual growth and wisdom that only a shared life can offer. You have already begun that sharing with deep respect and mutuality.
As you have grown to love one another, so too have you begun to create a new family that cares and supports one another. You have the strengths of understanding, listening, and accepting one another as you are. There will be times when the light of love may become harder to see. There will be trials of the spirit and your union. The way you are together today shows that you can weather those storms and grow a deeper love as is only possible in such a deeply committed and loving relationship.
May you always try to enhance, rather than diminish, your spirits. This includes sharing not only your joys and successes, but also your sorrows and failures. To share and be known in this way is a priceless thing, because the acceptance and understanding that goes with it makes it easier to live with ones problems and concerns. You each have experienced this in your lives and that wisdom will further sustain and guide you.
Marriage may be a legal contract under the law, but it is so much more. Marriage is a spiritual promise grounded in the mutual love that you make to one another. The sharing that is at the heart of marriage is not the kind of sharing in which people give themselves away. A good relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered or absorbed by the other. Rather, each is empowered and strengthened. Thus it is, out of the tension in marriage between separateness and union that love, whose incredible strength is equal only to its surprising fragility, is born and reborn again and again.
As a family, you form a new circle in the web of life. Remember to support one another and to also give one another space. As Kahlil Gibran wrote, in marriage people “should stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak and cypress grow not each other’s shadow.”
Your uniqueness is part of what makes this circle so strong. Paula, you shared that you love Larry’s kindness, integrity, his stable way of being, that he is open-minded, handsome, and a great kisser. Larry, you shared that you love Paula’s compassion, her continual effort toward self-improvement, and that she receives and embraces you as the person you are. Remember these things as the roots of your marriage. Always keep in mind that these may be the same things that annoy you at times. Also, that this is just the tip of the iceberg as you learn and love more about one another. Remember to live into gratitude for one another- particularly in the difficult times- and your marriage will be long and rewarding.
May you continue to grow like trees sharing the same soil of love who offer space for the sun to reach their leaves and the air to sustain them. May the nutrients of that soil sustain you for today and for the rest of your lives together.
Vows
Exchange of Rings
Once, these rings were forged from rock, melted and shaped carefully and skillfully into their current form. Just as these rings were meticulously shaped and polished, so, day after day, is your love, melted in the fires of passion, molded by struggle and triumph, and shaped by the work of your hands and hearts. May the exchange of these rings remind you of the bond that you share and the daily work that creates your love.
Do you take one another in love and grace for today and each day into the future. If so, please say, together “we do.”
Handfasting
(Ask them to hold hands right to right and left to left. Ask Jasmine to lay the rope on top of their hands).
In a handfasting we are reminded of the bond both between this couple and the people witnessing this bond. Love is a strong bond, but sometimes we need to be reminded of the many threads that hold our commitments together. Each strand of this rope is a reminder of the many strands that weave your love and lives together. Strands of family and friends. Strands of experience and wisdom. Strands of hope and grace. Each strand forming around you strengthening you together as spouses in life.
(Have Jasmine wrap it over the top of their hands)
This is a reminder of the love and trust that you carry into your married lives. May the sacred mystery of all being bless your love. May your family and friends bless your love. May each of you bless your love as you move forward from this day. May the threads in this cloth hold you in times of trial and times of great joy.
(Have Jasmine tie the rope.)
May this rope remind you of the ties that bind and your most holy and sacred commitment this day.
Proclamation
Having made your promises before this community you enter into the next steps your adventure together. By the power vested in me by the state of Alabama, I now pronounce you partners in Life. You may kiss one another.
Announcements
Go forth and have fun!
Recessional