A Reading by Khalil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when 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 heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love;

Let 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.

Fireworks in the Sky

Fireworks in the sky,
the lights we are all we see
Your hands in my hand,
tonight it’s just you and me
Surrounded by summer,
we’re lying in the grass
The sky is exploding,
I’m not allowing this moment to pass.

Watching the sky erupt in your eyesFrom red, to green, to yellow; your love is my glowing prizeThe night is blazing,it’s colorful,it’s roaringYour love is my passion,your love keeps my heart soaringAnd now as the sky is crackling and crashingYour love is sparklingyour face is flashing

The fireworks are not only in the skiy,
they’re also with me
When I close my eyes and think of you,
the fireworks are all I see.

                        --Donna Chlimon

Looking for your Face

From the beginning of my life I have been looking for your face, but today I have seen it.  Today I have seen the charm, the beauty, the unfathomable grace of the face I was looking for.  Today I have found you, and those who laughed and scorned me yesterday are sorry that they were not looking as I did.  I am bewildered by the magnificence of your beauty, and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.  My heart has burned with passion and has searched forever for this wondrous beauty that I now behold.  I ashamed to call this love human and afraid of God to call it divine.  Your fragrant breath, like the morning breeze, has come to the stillness of the garden.  You have breathed new life into me.  I have become your sunshine, and also your shadow.  My soul is screaming in ecstasy.  Every fiber of my being is in love with you.  Your effulgence has lit a fire in my heart, and you have made radiant for me the earth and sky.  My arrow of love has arrived at the target.  I am in the house of mercy, and my heart is a place of prayer. 

          --Rumi

Photo Courtesy of Clean Plate Pictures

From "The World"

A man from a town of Negua, on the east coast of Colombia, could climb into the sky.  On his return, he described his trip.  He told how he had contemplated human life from on high.  He said we are a sea of tiny flames.  Each person shines with his or her own light.  No two flames are alike.  There are big flames and little flames, flames of every color.  Some people’s flames are so still they don’t even flicker in the wind while others have wild flames that fill the air with sparks.  Some foolish flames neither burn nor shed light, but blaze with life so fiercely that you can’t look at them without blinking and if you approach, you shine in fire.

          --Eduardo Galeano, translated by Cedric Belfrage

Photo courtesy of Ira Lippke

Since Feeling is First

since feeling is first

who pays any attention

to the syntax of things

will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool

while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,

and kisses are a better fate

than wisdom

lady i swear by all flowers.  Don’t cry

—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids’ flutter which says

we are for each other: then

laugh, leaning back in my arms for life’s not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

  

          --e.e. cummings

A Reading by Wendell Berry

In honor of a recent Groom from Kentucky, I offered the following reading by the famed Blue Grass state writer and activist Wendell Berry:

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. 
We opena persimmon seed 
to find the treethat stands in promise,

pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

Contemporary Version of Traditional Seven Jewish Blessings

Although there are many contemporary renditions of the traditional Seven Jewish Wedding Blessings, including several on this blog, this one is particularly compelling because of its outward orientation, focusing not solely on the couple but their loved ones, community and the world.  At a recent wedding, the couple had seven different honored guests each read one entry from the piece. 

Blessing for the Earth, Environment, and Nature

Nature and the environment provide sustenance for our bodies and spirit.  Land, air, water, all living creatures and plants bring us great joy.  Our appreciation of nature reveals an essence of ourselves.

Blessing for the Diversity of Humankind

The recognition of differences, in each other as well as the recognition of the things we have in common, helps us to appreciate the diversity and commonality we find in all of humankind.  We are challenged to respect each other for those differences.  We learn tolerance through our relationship and the understanding of difference makes our lives richer.

Blessing for Peace and Freedom for All People

We are fortunate to live our lives in peace and freedom, and we wish for a world free from suffering and oppression.  May the actions we take in our lives contribute to the making of a better world.

Blessed is the Joy of Art and Music

We are blessed with art and music.  They add joy and fulfillment to our lives.  Through the making of art we become in touch with ourselves, through the sharing of art we are brought closer to each other and to our fellow human beings.

Blessing for Family and Friends

We are grateful for the love and support of family and friends:  love that is expressed in laughter and through tears, and support that is founded on trust and respect.  We wish good health, long life, and much happiness for all those we love.

Blessing for the Couple

Bless our couple in their life and home together.

Blessing of the Wine

Blessed are you (God), creator of the fruit of the vine.