Anam Cara Living Arts
Rev. Carrie MaKenna

The Path of Love Readings

1. I choose to take this journey with you

   Today you say to one another, I choose now to take this journey with you wherever it leads, whatever the outcome, no matter what may befall us, through all our days together.
   
   

2. May every step of your path be smoothed

   May every step of your path be smoothed by your companionship. May the sun shine upon you and encourage your growth; may the moon move the tide of your hearts with grace and gratitude; may your bodies sing and dance with health; may your hearth and bed be warm; and your journey be fulfilling.

3. Afoot and lighthearted

   This quote adapted from Walt Whitman says,

   Afoot and lighthearted, take to the open road,

   Healthy, free, the world before you,

   The long brown path before you, leading wherever you choose.

   Say only to one another:

   Dear Friend, I give you my hand!

   I give you my love …

   I give you myself …

   Will you give me yourself?

   Will you come travel with me?

   Shall we stick together as long as we shall live?

4. The Art of a Good Marriage

   In The Art of a Good Marriage – Wilferd Arlan Peterson, says,

   Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created.

   In the art of marriage, the little things are the big things:

   It is never being to old to hold hands. It is remembering to say, I love you, once each day.

   It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted.

   The courtship should not end with the honeymoon, but continue through all the years.

   It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is facing the world together.

   It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

   It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

   It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

   It is not looking for perfection in each other.

   It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor.

   It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

   It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

   It is establishing a relationship which is interdependent rather that dependent.

   And finally, it is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

5. Let the power of love and passion make you happy

   Celtic Blessing

   Above you are the stars, below you is the earth, as time does pass, remember: Like the earth should your love be firm, grounded in your dedication. Like a star should your love be constant, imbued with the Light. Groom andBride, let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage. Let the strength of your wills bind you together. Let the power of love and passion make you happy, and the strength of your commitment make you inseparable.

    

    

    

    

   
   

Quotes on Love Readings

1. Martin Buber-observe which way his heart draws him

   Martin Buber said,

   Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.

2. Judy Garland-It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul

   Judy Garland said,

   For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

3. Winston Churchill-My greatest good fortune

   In a letter to his wife, Winston Churchill wrote,

   My greatest good fortune in a life of brilliant experiences has been to find you, and to lead my life with you.

    

    

    

   
   

4. Helen Keller-must be felt with the heart

   Helen Keller said,

   The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

    

    

    

   
   

5. Bill Cosby-The greatest thing about love

   Bill Cosby said,

   The greatest thing about love is that when it’s there, you know it.

    

    

    

   
   

Arts, Music and Dance Readings

1. Today is a celebration, for it is a pleasure to see love in bloom

   Daphne Rose Kingma writes,

   Today is a celebration, for it is a pleasure to see love in bloom, to participate in the wedding of two people so delightfully suited to one another. It lifts our spirits to be in the presence of such a love,

   to bask in the sweet energies of two people who so obviously adore one another, who want to play together, laugh together, walk together for a lifetime.

2. The heart is a living museum.

   In a History of Love, Diane Ackerman writes,

   The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, preserved forever, are our moments of loving and being loved.

3. When we love, we bring out the most beautiful parts

   Joan Shinoda Bolen said,

   When we love, we bring out the most beautiful parts of the other person. That’s real magic.

4. Chains do not hold a marriage together.

   Simone Signoret said,

   Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny treads which sew people together through the years.

Nature-Inspired Readings

1. they marry the trees

   William Meredith writes,

   In India and Bengal the betrothed are tied with threads to Mango trees, they marry the trees as well as one another, and the two trees marry each other.

   Could we do that sometime with oaks or beeches? This gossamer we hold each other with, this web of love and habit is not enough.

   In mistrust of heavier ties, I would like a tree-sibling for us, standing together somewhere, two trees married with us, lightly, their fingers barely touching in sleep, our threads invisible but holding.

    

2. As two trees deeply rooted

   This reading by Janet Miles iscalled Two Trees

   A portion of your soul has been entwined with mine.

   A gentle kind of togetherness, while separately we stand.

   As two trees deeply rooted in separate pots of ground,

   While their topmost branches come together,

   Forming a miracle of lace against the heavens.

    

    

    

   
   

3. pebbles into the ponds

   Joan Borysenko said,

   We drop like pebbles into the ponds of each other’s souls, and the orbit of our ripples continues to expand, intersecting with countless others.

Irish, Scottish and Celtic Readings

1. You are the kernel of my heart

   This is a Traditional 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

    

    

    

   
   

2. May we speak words both kind and loving

   A Scottish Wedding Blessing says,

   Through our lives may we remember when we first met and the strong love that grew between us.

   May we work that love into practical things so that nothing can divide us.

   May we speak words both kind and loving and have hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as to forgive.

    

    

    

   
   

3. Deep peace of the spirit of life to you

   This is the traditional Scottish Blessing of the Elements

   Deep peace of the running wave to you

   Deep peace of the flowing air to you

   Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

   Deep peace of the shining stars to you

   Deep peace of the spirit of life to you

    

    

    

   
   

4. the bright skies that make our lives delightful

   This is a wedding blessing by Robert Louis Stevenson

   Behold our family here assembled. We are grateful for the place in which we dwell, for the love that unites us, for the peace accorded us this day, for the hope with which we expect tomorrow, for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies that make our lives delightful; and for our friends in all parts of the earth.

    

    

5. Let the power of love and passion make you happy

   Celtic Blessing

   Above you are the stars, below you is the earth, as time does pass, remember: Like the earth should your love be firm, grounded in your dedication. Like a star should your love be constant, imbued with the Light. Groom and Bride, let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage. Let the strength of your wills bind you together. Let the power of love and passion make you happy, and the strength of your commitment make you inseparable.

Native American Readings

1. And I shall love because of you

   Eskimo (Inuit) Blessing or Vows

   My feet shall run because of you

   My feet dance because of you

   My heart shall beat because of you

   My eyes see because of you

   My mind think because of you

   And I shall love because of you

2. May the sun bring you energy by day

   Native American Blessing

   May the sun bring you energy by day,

   May the moon softly restore you by night.

   May the rain wash away your worries,

   And the breeze blow new strength into your being,

   And all the days of your life,

   May you walk gently through the world,

   And know its beauty.

    

    

3. Now you will feel no rain

   Native American Blessing

   Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.

   Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth for the other.

   Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be a companion to the other.

   Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.

   May beauty surround you both on the journey ahead and through all your years.

   Go now to your dwelling place, and enter into the days of your life together.

   May happiness be your companion, and may your days together be

   Good and long upon the Earth.

    

Eastern Philosophy Readings

1. Dalai Lama-the best source of happiness and peace

   His Holiness the Dalai Lama says,

   I am totally convinced that the best source of happiness and peace for a human being is compassion and love.

   
   

2. Buddhist-You cannot resist loving another person

   The Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hahn said,

   This is the ground of real love. You cannot resist loving another person when you really understand him or her.
   

3. Hindu Marriage Poem-You are thought and I am sound.

   You have become mine forever.

   Yes, we have become partners.

   I have become yours.

   Let us share the joys.

   We are word and meaning, united.

   You are thought and I am sound.

   May the nights be honey-sweet for us,

   May the mornings be honey-sweet for us.

   May the plants be honey-sweet for us.

   May the earth be honey-sweet for us.

    

    

    

   
   

4. Sufi-Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure.

   The Sufi Saint Rabia said,

   Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure.

   Your name on my tongue is the sweetest word.

   My choicest hours are the hours I spend with you.

Popular Culture Readings

1. Spiderman-It's wrong that we should only behalf-alive

   In the movie Spiderman, M.J. says to Peter Parker,

   I know you think we can't be together.

   But can't you respect me enough to let me make my own decision?

   I know there'll be risks.

   But I want to face them with you.

   It's wrong that we should only behalf-alive...

   ...half of ourselves.

   I love you.

   So here I am, I've always been standing in your doorway.

   Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?

2. Lord of the Rings-The Ent's Love Song

   The Ent's Love Song - Adapted from the Tolkein's Lord of the Rings
   When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bough;

   When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the brow;

   When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold,

   Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold;

   When Fall loosens the hanging fruit and burns the berry brown;

   When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town;

   When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last;

   When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past;

   Together we journey on the road that leads into the West,

   And in that land, we’ll make a home where both our hearts may rest.

    

    

Shakespeare & Marlowe Readings

1. Shakespeare-Let me not to the marriage of true minds

   In Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare wrote,

   Let me not to the marriage of true minds

   Admit impediments; love is not love

   Which alters when it alteration finds,

   Or bends with the remover to remove.

   Oh no! it is an ever-fixed mark

   That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

   It is the star to every wand’ring bark,

   Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

   Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

   Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

   Love alters not with its brief hours and weeks,

   But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

   If this be error and upon me proved,

   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

   
   

   
   

2. Shakespeare-Now join your hands

    

   In King Henry VI, Part III, William Shakespeare wrote,

   Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.

3. Shakespeare-One half of me is yours

   In the Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare wrote,

   One half of me is yours, the other half yours –Mine own, I should say; but if mine, then yours, And so, all yours.

4. Marlowe-Come live with me and be my love

   In The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, Christopher Marlowe wrote,

   Come live with me and be my love,

   And we will all the pleasures prove

   That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

   Woods, or steepy mountain hills.

   And we will sit upon the rocks,

   Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,

   By shallow rivers to whose falls

   Melodious birds sing madrigals.

   
   

   And if these pleasures may thee move,

   Come live with me, and be my love.

   The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing

   For thy delight each May morning:

   If these delights thy mind may move,

   Then live with me and be my love.

Not Your Typical Biblical Readings

1. My Beloved is mine and I am his.

   In the Song of Songs it is written,

   My Beloved lifts up his voice; he says to me: come then, my love, my Lovely, come.

   My Dove hiding in the clefts of the rock, in the coverts of the cliff, show me your face.

   Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful.

   My Beloved is mine and I am his. He said to me: Let me leave a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love in infinitely strong … Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown.

    

    

    

   
   

2. they keep their hearts open, day and night

   In 1st Psalms it is written,

   Blessed are the man and the woman who have grown beyond themselves and have seen through their separations. They delight in the way things are and they keep their hearts open, day and night. They are liketrees planted near flowing rivers, which bear fruit when they are ready. Their leaves will not fall or whither. Everything they do will succeed.

    

    

    

   
   

3. if two lie together, they are warm

   In Ecclesiastes Chapter 14 it is written,

   Two are better that one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him.

    

    

    

   
   

Other Favorite Wedding Readings

1. e. e. cummings-i carry your heart

   e. e. cummings wrote,

   i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart)

   i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go,my dear;

   and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)


   i fear 
no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)

   i want
no world (for beautiful, you are my world, my true)


   and it's, you are whatever a moon has always meant


   and whatever a sun will always sing, is you



   here is the deepest secret nobody knows


   (here is the root of the root, and the bud of the bud, 


   and the sky of the sky, of a tree called life;

   which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)


   and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart



   i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

2. Kahlil Gibran-let there be spaces in your togetherness

   In The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran writes,

   You were born together, and together you shall be forever more. But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of heaven 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.

Blessings from Around the World

1. Our family is a circle

   World Blessing

   Our family is a circle of strength and love.

   With every birth and every union, the circle grows.

   Every joy shared adds more love.

   Every crisis faced together makes the circle grow stronger.

2. May every desire you have for your love be fulfilled

   World Blessing

   May every desire you have for your love be fulfilled, and may you be given the vision with which to clearly behold one another, the listening with which to perceive on another most genuinely, and the endless generosity of spirit with which to nourish one another’s soul and sweetly keep the promises you make here today.

    

   
   

3. May the wings of angels uphold you

   World Blessing

   May the wings of angels uphold you throughout the life of your love;

   may you live with one another in happiness.

   May your hearts be full; may your lips stay sweet. May your love grow strong.

   May you live long and happily in one another's arms.