Ceremonial Considerations

What a most wonderful weekend! Shannon and I celebrated our life commitment to each other with over 125 of our dear friends and family. The energy and magic of every moment was, simply put, perfect! We feel so honored to have been surrounded by such magnitude of love and generosity of spirit.

Several people have asked me to post the readings which were selected to be included in the ceremony; here they are:

From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee

From blossoms
comesthis brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned towardsigns painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.


Soneto XVII -- Pablo Neruda

No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego: te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras, secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma. Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva dentro de sí, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores, y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo el apretado aroma que ascendió de la tierra. Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde, te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo: así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera, sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres, tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía, tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.

On Marriage – Khalil Gibran
Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, 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.

MARRIAGE BLESSING – Jalil al-Din Rumi

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May this marriage be delicious milk,
like wine and halvah.
May it offer fruit and shade,
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
making every day a day in Paradise.
May this marriage be a token of compassion,
a seal of joy now and for every more.
May this marriage have a gracious face and a good name,
an omen as welcome
as the moon in a clear daylight sky.
I have run out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.