Another post in our wedding readings series today! (See Wedding Readings – The Journey, Wedding Readings – Defining Marriage and Wedding Readings – Togetherness).
Today’s readings are all around the theme of blessings. With so many family members and their wishes and hopes for you as a couple, there are some beautiful ways that convey their blessing and intentions for your marriage going forward. Here are some of my favourites, I’d love to see your ideas in the comments!
Blessing The Boats – Lucille Clifton
May the tide
That is entering even now
The lip of our understanding
Carry you out
Beyond the face of fear
May you kiss
The wind then turn from it
Certain that it will
Love your back may you
Open your eyes to water
Water waving forever
And may you in your innocence
Sail through this to that
Irish Wedding Blessing
You are the star of each night,
You are the brightness of every morning,
You are the story of each guest,
You are the report of every land.
No evil shall befall you, on hill nor bank,
In field or valley, on mountain or in glen.
Neither above, nor below, neither in sea,
Nor on shore, in skies above,
Nor in the depths.
You are the kernel of my heart,
You are the face of my sun,
You are the harp of my music,
You are the crown of my company
We Will Not Wish You Joy by Brian Zouch
We will not wish you joy on this great day,
For joy is in your hearts and goes with you
Along the fragrant, mystic, sunlit way:
We will not wish you joy while love is new.
But this is our wish: May you be strong enough
To shelter love, and keep it safe from harm,
When winds blow high, and roads are steep and tough
May you protect your love, preserve its charm.
When days are dark, may love be your sure light,
When days are cold, may love be your bright fire,
Your guiding star when hope is out of sight,
The essence and the sun of your desire.
May love be with you through the flight of years,
Then after storms, there always be calm.
Though you have cause for heartache and for tears,
Despair lasts not, where love is there for balm.
This be the prayer we breathe for you today:
When you have reached the summit of life’s hill,
May it be possible for you to say,
“Married long years, but we are lovers still.”
Blessing for a Marriage – 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.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice, but not compel one another.
May you embrace, but not 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.
A Blessing for The Journey (Buddhist Prayer) –Sensei Wendy Egyoku Nakao
Let us vow to bear witness to the wholeness of life,
realizing the completeness of each and every thing.
Embracing our differences,
I shall know myself as you,
and you as myself.
May we serve each other
for all our days,
here, there, and everywhere.
Let us vow to open ourselves to the abundance of life.
Freely giving and receiving, I shall care for you,
for the trees and stars,
as treasures of my very own.
May we be grateful
for all our days,
here, there, and everywhere.
Let us vow to forgive all hurt,
caused by ourselves and others,
and to never condone hurtful ways.
Being responsible for my actions,
I shall free myself and you.
Will you free me, too?
May we be kind
for all our days,
here, there, and everywhere.
Let us vow to remember that all that appears will disappear.
In the midst of uncertainty,
I shall sow love.
Here! Now! I call to you:
Let us together live
The Great Peace that we are.
May we give no fear
for all our days,
here, there, and everywhere.
On Marriage – Kahlil Gibran
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you
Love one another, but make not a bond 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 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.
That last one by Kahlil Gibran is beautiful. Taking note of that one! xx
all blessings are nice. Thanks for sharing this beautiful blessings with us.