Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

	A fine day it will be, Patricia! This will be the happiest day of your
life!

    Thank you glen!

    A wonderful way to start the new year.  Best wishes, Patricia.  My
    prayers are with you.

    Patricia:
    
    I truly wish God's best for you and your new husband.  Do you have any
    of the details as to what will be read, etc...or is that what you will
    be determining this evening?
    
    -Jack

    That is what we will be determining this evening.
    
    so far I know all of our children (six in total and my sister will be
    our attendants.  We will arrange the seating in a circle. We will sing
    "spirit of life" which is a UU hymn, The Rose, and the Wedding Song.  
    
    I've also suggested "Winter Wonderland".
    
    We will have a flower communion, where each person gets a flower on the
    way in, adds the flower to a basket of flowers during the ceremony.  we
    will take the baskets of flowers to the reception and then as people
    are leaving they will take a flower with them.  As each person places
    the flower in the basket, it represents what each has contributed to
    us, and the hopes and prayers that each has for our happiness.  When
    they take the flower home with them, it represents the joy and
    happiness we share with them.
    
    2 peter and Song of Solomon, and Wisdom of Solomon might be appropriate
     souces of readings readings.  
    
    I guess I got a busy night tonight.
    
                                        Patricia

    Not 2 Peter/ but 1 John!
    
    
    

    The Wedding Song is beautiful.  We had that at our ceremony and our
    readings were 1st Corinthians 10, i.e. Love is patient, love is kind,
    etc.  The second reading was Philippians 2 about not looking out after
    our own interests but looking out for the interests of others.  
    
    -Jack

Tobit 8:5b-8

    Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed is
    thy holy and glorious name for ever; let the heavens
    bless thee, and all thy creatures.

    Thou madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for an
    helper and stay: of them came mankind: thou hast said,
    It is not good that man should be alone; let us make
    unto him an aid like unto himself.

    And now, O Lord, I take this my beloved to wife, not
    out of lust, but with sincerity: therefore mercifully
    ordain that we may become aged together.

    And she said with him, Amen.

    Blessed art thou, Sophia  our mother, and blessed is
    thy holy and glorious name for ever; let the heavens
    and all the earth bless thee
    
    Thou madest Lilith, and gavest her Adam for a Husband, 
    helper and stay: of them came womankind and men: thou hast said,
    It is not good that woman should be alone; let us make
    unto her an aid like unto herself

    And now, Sophia, I take this my beloved to husband, not
    out of lust, but with sincerity: therefore mercifully
    ordain that we may become aged together.

    And he said with her, Blessed be!

    Blessed art thous Sophia, grand daughter of an Italian dictator.
    For thou hast made herself an actress on the big screen.  Blessed is
    your name at 20th Century Fox and may your name become legendary on
    that street in Hollywood where names get etched in cement.
    
    Thou madest "Cranky Old Men", and gavest Jack Lemmon for a co actor,
    surest to win an academy award for he hast done great exploits within
    her shadow.  May the both of them pay their dues to the Actors Guild
    and may they be a rememberance of Cinemascope forever. 

    What creative talent!

    My prayers for a most blessed union, Patricia.  May the Holy One be the
    third strand in making your relationship strong and resiliant.
    
    Shalom,
    Richard
    

    Thank you!!! :-)

I hope your wedding day is beautiful Patricia, and that your marriage
is even more beautiful, strong, and lasting.

Mazel Tov,
Leslie

Reading 1.  divided in four parts.


A Circle of Love      "Adapted from Oh Great Spirit of the North"
                       by Diann Neu  in Earth Prayers from around the World


Oh Great Spirit of the East
we turn to you where the sun comes up
Everything that is born comes up in this direction
The birth of ideas and the birth of friendship
The birth of Love,
Oh Spirit of the East.
Let the color of fresh rising in our life 
be glory to you



Oh Great Spirit of the South
Spirit of all that is warm and gentle and refreshing
We ask you to give us this spirit 
of Growth,  of light, of gentleness
Caress us with a cool breeze when the days are hot
Give us seeds that the flowers, trees, and fruits of earth may grow
Give us the warmth and the growth of your blessings


Oh Great  Spirit of the West
Where the sun goes down each day to come up the next
we turn to you in praise of sunsets
and in thankgiving for changes
You are the great colored sunset of the red west
which illuminates us.
You are the powerful cycle which pulls us to transformation
We ask for the blessings of the sunset
Keep us open to life's changes
Oh Spirit of the West

 

Oh Great  Spirit of the North
we come to you and ask for the 
strength and the power
to bear what is cold and harsh in life.
We come like the buffalo
ready to receive the winds that 
truly can be overwhelming at times.
Whatever is cold and uncertain in our life,
we ask you to give us the strength to bear it.
 Do not let the winter blow us away.
Oh Spirit of life and Spirit of the North
We ask you for strength and for warmth.

First Song

Spirit of Life   by Carolyn McDade  in Singing the Living Tradition			All

Spirit of Life, come unto me.  Sing in my
heart all the stirrings of compassion. Blow in the
wind, rise in the sea.  move in the hand giving
life the shape of justice.  Roots hold me close, wings set me
free, Spirit of Life come to me, come to me

Reading 2
    
    Just to be is a blessing�  by Rabbi Abraham Heschel 

Just to be is a blessing
Just to live is holy.

Song 2
The Rose  by Bette Midler				All

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed
Some say bleed.
Some say love it is a hunger an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower and you it�s only seed

It�s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.
It�s the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It�s the one who won�t be taken who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to reed
Some say bleed.
Some say love it is a hunger an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower and you it�s only seed

If the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows,
lies the seed that with the sun�s love  in the spring becomes the rose�
    
		
Reading 3

Adapted  from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran	

		LOVE
    
    When love beckons to you, follow love
    Though loves ways are hard and steep.
    
    And when loves wings enfold you, yield to  it,
    Though the sword hidden among its pinions may wound you.
    
    And when love speaks to you, believe in it
    Though its voice may shatter your dreams.
    
    For even as love ascends to your height and caresses your
     tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
    So shall love descend to your roots and shake them in
     their clinging to the earth.
    
    Like sheaves of corn love gathers you unto itself.
    It threshes you to make you naked.
    It  sifts you to free you from your husks.
    It grinds you to whiteness.
    It kneads you until you are pliant;
    And then love assigns you to its sacred fire.
    
     All these things shall love do unto you that you may
     know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge 
     become a fragment of Life's heart.
    
    Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
    Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; for love is 
     sufficient unto love.
    
    Think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it 
    finds you worthy, directs your course.
    

Reading 4
    
  From The Prophet  by Kahlil Gibran			
    	MARRIAGE

    You were born together, 
    and together you shall be forevermore.
    
    You shall be together when the white 
    wings of death scatter your days.
    
    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.

    
    "The Wedding Song"


   "Can you feel the Love Tonight"

There should be no excuse for not remembering your wedding anniversary!
;-}

Richard

    We will even let the people who put on Boston's first night exhibition
    host our anniversary party each year!  
    
    We will be able to commorate each year married with a big bang!

I think it appropriate to keep the newlyweds in our prayers.

God bless this union.  The wedding is but a day...

Shalom,
Richard

    We had a wonderful wedding day with family and friends and a great
    honeymoon in New York City.
    
    Bob and I spent a lot of time putting together our wedding service and
    writing our own vows.  The wedding party consisted of our six children
    and my sister.  Each member of the wedding party including 
    Bob and I read during the service.
    
    A good friend and fellow Digital employee  Rodney Mashia was our
    musician, leading Bette Midler's "Rose" on the guitar, singing "The
    Wedding Song" and playing "Can you feel the love tonight" on the flute.
    
    We were married in a circle, with the wedding party standing in one
    arch of the circle and  three sections of seating completing the
    circle.  We had an altar in the middle with objects of significance
    including our rings and family photographs on the altar.  The circle
    was created by four of our children calling the directions and my
    invocation to Goddess/God.  The circle was open with Bob bidding
    farewell to the four directions and our leaving the one candle in the
    middle, symbolizing Goddess/God burning.  I spoke from the heart on
    "What is a marriage"  and Bob spoke from the heart on "Partners for
    life".  Gibran's readings on "Love" and on "Marriage" were read by the
    best man and the best woman.  Bob's eight year old daughter read
    Rabbi's Heschels meditations
    
    "Just to be is a Blessing"
    "Just to live is Holy"
    
    Having put so much effort into the service, it was wonderful hearing
    the complements.
    
    Our reception was in the Ramada in Andover and it was lovely.  we had a
    great time.
    
    In New York we had the opportunity to see two plays "Les Miserable" and
    "Miss Saigon" and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum
    of Modern Art.  We did lots of walking and had some great meals.
    
    It was a great week.
    
    
                               Patricia

	You mean you didn't see Cats???? ;-)

    No, I did have the opportunity to see "Cats" in Boston a few years back
    and since I have seen so few plays opted to see two that I had not
    seen.
    
    I do think I have become hooked on New York though!
    
                             Patricia

Patricia,

	One of the questions frequently asked of newlyweds:

		"So, how's married life?"

Richard

    It's great to have a committed partner to go through life with.  The
    process of planning our wedding and affirming our committment to each
    other in our holy community  strenghthened our relationship.  Most of
    the day to day things have not changed though.
    
                                     Thanks for asking