Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is desire, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy O'Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Oh Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the wind, whose breath gives life to all the world. Hear
me; I need our strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears
sharp to hear your voice, Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught
my people. Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes toward me. Let
me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. Help me seek pure thoughts
and act with the intention of helping others. Help me find compassion without empathy
overwhelming me. I seek strength no to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest
enemy, myself. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. So
when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.
Now you will feel no rain, for each will be the shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold,
for each will be the warmth for the other. Now there is no more loneliness, for each will be the
companion for the other. Now there are two bodies, but there is only one life before you. Go
now to your dwelling place, to enter into your days of togetherness. And may your days be
good and long upon the earth.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my
soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace. I love thee to
the level of every day's Most quiet need, be the sun and candle light, I love thee freely, as men
strive for right; I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to
use In my old grief's, and with my childhood's faith, I love thee with a love I seem to lose With
my lost saints-I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears of all my life-and, if God choose, I shall
but love them better after death.
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be
created. In the art of marriage, the little things are big things....
It is never being too old to hold hands,
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry,
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship shouldn't end with the honeymoon, it
should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives; it is standing together to face
the world.
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 expecting the husband to wear the halo and the wife to have wings. 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 in giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is in establishing a relationship in
which the independence is equal, the dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
May you be blessed with love.
May the love between you be passionate and serene, strong and enduring bringing a deep
abiding peace into your lives.
May you be blessed with wisdom.
May you continually learn from one another and the world.
Together may you grow, deepening your knowledge and understanding of each other and of
your journey together through life.
May you be blessed with the fruit of the earth.
May your harvest be abundant and prosperous in all areas of your lives.
May you be blessed with art and beauty.
May your creative aspirations and experiences find expression and bring you joy and
fulfillment.
May you be blessed with balance.
May you respect the relationship between expanding and contracting, in giving and receiving,
in doing and in being.
May you be blessed with community.
May you always be blessed with the awareness that you are an essential part of the circle of
family and friends. May there always be within this group a sense of mutual love, trust,
support, and respect.
May you be blessed with health.
May life bestow upon you wholeness of mind, body and spirit.
May you live long that you may share many happy years together.
Esther and Jerry Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham) ....from Ask and it is Given, Learning to
Manifest Your Desires
"The greatest gift that you could ever give to another is your own happiness, for when you are
in a state of joy, happiness, or appreciation, you are fully connected to the Stream of pure,
positive Source Energy that is truly who you are. And when you are in that state of connection,
anything or anyone that you are holding as your object of attention benefits from your
attention.
No one else needs you to be or do things for them in order for them to be fulfilled-for all of
them have the same access to the Stream of Well-Being that you do. Often, others (who do
not understand that they have access to the Stream) suffer in their inability to hold
themselves in a place of feeling good, and ask you to behave in a way that they believe will
make them feel better. But not only do they hold you in a place of discomfort as they try to
make you responsible for their joy, they hold themselves in a place of bondage as well. For
they cannot control the way any other behaves, and if that control is necessary for their
happiness, then they are truly in trouble.
Your happiness does not depend on what others do, but upon your own vibrational balance.
And the happiness of others does not depend on you, but only on their own vibrational
balance, own mix of Energies. The way you feel is simply, clearly and always the indicator of
the vibrational balance between your desires and your vibrational offering, which from your
vantage point, you have launched."
"There is no desire that anyone holds for any other reason than that they believe they will feel
better in the achievement of it. Whether it is a material object, a physical state of being, a
relationship, a condition, or a circumstance--at the heart of every desire is the desire to feel
good. And so, the standard of success in life is not the things or the money--the standard of
success is absolutely the amount of joy you feel.
The basis of life is freedom, and the result of life is expansion--but the purpose of your life is
joy."
Please face each other and hold hands, so you may feel the gift that you are to one another.
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are
hold yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and
forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and
with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other,
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief wracks your mind.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow
and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for
yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.
