You Came, Too

I came to the crowd seeking friends
I came to the crowd seeking love
I came to the crowd for understanding

I found you

I came to the crowd to weep
I came to the crows to laugh

You dried my tears
you shared my happiness

I went from the crowd seeking you
I went from the crowd seeking me
I went from the crowd forever

You came, too

          --Nikki Giovanni

The Mystery

Having met later in life, there are no memories of young romantic love, high school roller skating parties, college weekdays longing for your touch.  No memories of experiencing together life’s first tastes of freedom or the innocence of believing that we had all the time in the world… I never knew your young body nor you mine; those days when I looked radiant in the morning.  When life finally brought us together, we stood before each other in the stark reality of all we had become.  Too mature to hide yet secretly wondering if the other would stay and if love was worth the trouble after all this time.  Piece by piece we removed the layers of life shedding off what no longer served us until we discovered a place deep inside, beyond judgment, expectation, or what anyone else thought where we found only pure light.  Smiling, we instinctively knew we had everything we needed for the rest of the journey.  Now with you by my side I can see the light in your eyes reminding me of who we really are.  Forgiveness has never been so easy and love so real. 

      --Christy Sperrazza

Plato's Symposium

To understand the power of Love, we must understand that our original human nature was not like it is now, but different.  Human beings each had two sets of arms, two sets of legs, and two faces looking in opposite directions.  There were three sexes then:  One comprised of two men call the children of the son, one made of two women called the children of the earth, and a third made of a man and a woman, called the children of the Moon.  Due to the power and might of these original humans, the Gods began to fear that their reign might be threatened.  They sought for a way to end the humans’ insolence without destroying them.

It was at this point that Zeus divided the humans in half.  After the division the two parts of each desiring their other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one.  So ancient is the desire of on another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of human kind. 

Each of us when separated, having one side only, is but the indenture of a person, and we are always looking for our other half.  Those whose original nature lies with the children of the Sun are men who are drawn to other men, those from the children of the Earth are women who love other woman, and those from the children of the Moon are men and women drawn to one another.  And when one of us meets our other half, we are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other’s site for even a moment.  We pass our whole lives together, desiring that we should be melted into one, to spend our lives as one person instead of two, and so that after our death there will be one departed soul instead of two; this is the very expression of our ancient need.  And the reason that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love.”

Justice Kennedy's Opinion, Obergefell v. Hodges

Clarion words from Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in the Supreme Court decision making Equal Marriage the Law of the Land.

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity devotion, sacrifice, and family.  In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.  As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies that may endure even past death.  It would misunderstand these men and women to say they respect the idea of marriage.  Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves.  Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions.  They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law.  The Constitution grants them that right.  The Judgement of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed. 

It is so ordered. 

Desiderata

Photo Courtesy of Gianna Leo Falcon

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Marriage Blessing

Photo by Gianna Falcon

As the ocean finds calm in view of land,
May you love the gaze of each other’s mind.

As the wind arises free and wild,
May nothing negative control your lives.

As kindly as moonlight might search the dark,
So gentle may you be when light grows scarce.

As surprised as the silence that music opens,
May your words for each other be touched with reverence.

As warmly as the air draws in the light,
May you welcome each other’s every gift.

As elegant as dream absorbing the night,
May sleep find you clear of anger and hurt.

As twilight harvests all the day’s color,
May love bring you home to each other.

 

           --John O'Donohue

Wedding Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

Photo by Laura Pennace

(Lord), Behold our families here assembled.
We thank you for this place in which we dwell,
For the love that unites us,
For the peace accorded us this day,
For the hope with which we expect the morrow,
For the health, the work, the food,
And the bright skies that make our lives delightful;
for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Amen.