Buddhist Marriage Homily

To say the words 
“Love and Compassion” is easy.
But to accept that Love
And Compassion are built
Upon patience and perseverance
It not easy.
Your marriage will be firm
And everlasting if you this.

--Buddhist Marriage Homily

A Passage from Madeline 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 you 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 risks that it is often rejected.