We have come together today on
this beautiful evening in the Florida Keys to share one of life’s great moments: the
joining of two of us in marriage. We are invited here to recognize the worth and beauty of
love and commitment. We are invited here to witness and celebrate the joining of Sheri and
Nathan.
Sheri and Nathan: You have each made a place for the other in your life. There is now a
sense of completeness as you join together not only as a couple, but as a family. You must
now work each day to ensure that that place remains always a safe place, a loving place, a
place that remains welcoming even when the world around you is not.
To do this, you will need to laugh together every day. You will also need to share each
other’s fears and sorrows, risks, triumphs and failures. You should be prepared to
support one another when life offers a special challenge, and protect one another in times
of need.
Show each other passion and kindness, love and desire, trust and respect. Look to each
other for companionship, understanding, perspective and guidance. Be friends together. Be
a family together. Work together. Never stop playing together.
Most of all, you should remember to commit anew each day to the promise you make to
each other today, the promise to create in your heart and your life a safe and loving
place for the other. Because, as you already know, a loving and supportive relationship is
not without compromise. It needs to be maintained with constant effort and active
participation.
Commitment
Nathan, do you here and now proclaim your love and devotion for Sheri? Do you promise
to affirm her, to trust her, to respect her, and care for her during times of joy and
hardship? Do you commit yourself to share your feelings of happiness and sadness? Do you
pledge your faithfulness to her?
I do.
Sheri, do you here and now proclaim your love and devotion for Nathan? Do you promise
to affirm him, to trust him, to respect him, and care for him during times of joy and
hardship? Do you commit yourself to share your feelings of happiness and sadness? Do you
pledge your faithfulness to him?
I do.
From our earliest times, the circle has been to us a universal symbol of completeness,
of wholeness, of one. In marriage, it symbolizes a commitment to never ending
companionship and love. In families it symbolizes the unconditional love and strength that
binds you together. It is our hope that whenever any of you looks at or touches or thinks
about this symbol, you will be reminded of the commitment that you make to each other here
today, and to each other as a family.
As a token of mutual fidelity and deep, abiding affection, your rings and braclets will
now be given and received.
Vows
Nathan: I Nathan take you Sheri to be my wife. I promise to give to you all my
love, comfort and support, to be open and honest at all times. I promise my love and
companionship to you forever.
Sheri: I Sheri take you Nathan to be my husband. I promise to give to you all my
love, comfort and support, to be open and honest at all times. I promise my love and
companionship to you forever.
Joining
From writer Madeleine L’Engle
"But ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately, two
people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows
and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take … it is indeed a fearful
gamble … because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something
which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature.
"To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take … if
we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection
of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the
risk of love which is permanent, into that love which is not possession, but participation
… it takes a lifetime to learn another person … when love is not possession but
participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which
implies such risk that it is often rejected. "
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what
brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness
that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your
relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to
focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong.
