Please post your readings

H Ladies
Please post readings and who will be reading them.
TIA

Here is my Old and New testament and our uncles are reading them

Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16a, 8:6-7a

Hark, my lover - here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a
gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices.

My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! “Oh, my dove
in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, let me see you, let me hear your voice, for you voice
is sweet, and you are lovely.”

My lover belongs to me and I to him. He says to me: “Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm;
for stern as death is Love, relentless as the nether-world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away.”

If I do not have Love I gain nothing

1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:8a

A Reading from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Hi, here is my first reading:

I Will Be Here
Steven Curtis Chapman

If in the morning when you wake,
If the sun does not appear,
I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
I will be here.
I will be here,
When you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind I will listen.
Through the winning, losing, and trying we'll be together,
And I will be here.
If in the morning when you wake,
If the future is unclear,
I will be here.
As sure as seasons were made for change,
Our lifetimes were made for years,
I will be here.
I will be here,
And you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we're older.
I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty,
And tell you all the things you are to me.
We'll be together and I will be here.
I will be true to the promises I've made,
To you and to the one who gave you to me.
I will be here.

And here is my second:

And now the lonely days are done
And with each rising of the sun,
love begins anew
And if you ever ask me why
I know that my love will never die
I'll say these words to you

Of all the souls I've ever known
Mine sings to yours and yours alone and yours sings just to me
In all this world I'll never find
A heart that could beat as close to mine

and this time I can see

A love like this is so hard to find
And so many never do
And loves like this, when they even exist
Are precious and few, you know they're precious and few

Down the miles, through the years
Yours is the star by which I steer, the brightest star I've known
And when I feel all hope is gone
yours is the love that leads me on
The light that guides me home
The light that guides me home
Your light will guide me home

Here are some I am thinking of using


~~~ From the book of RUTH ~~~
And Ruth said, 'Entreat me not to leave you
or to return from following you;
for where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge;
your people shall be my people and your God my God;
where you die I will die and there will I be buried.
May the lord do so to me and more also
if even death parts me from you.


~~~ Corinthians 1;13 ~~~
Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous.
Love is never boastful or conceited, it is never rude or selfish,
it does not take offense and is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure in other people's faults,
but delights in the truth.
It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope.
It is always ready to endure whatever comes.
True love does not come to an end

From Kahil Gibran's 'The Prophet'
'Love one another, but make not a bond of that love. Let it rather be like a moving sea between the shores of your souls. And stand together, and yet not too near together. For even the pillars of the temple must stand apart; and the oak tree and the cypress will not grow in each other's shadow. Remember that love gives nothing but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love. And think not that you can direct the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, will direct your course.'



Since this is not from the bible I don't think we can use it, but I might use it else where

From Standing by Words
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, If God choose,
I shall love thee better after death.
- Wendell Berry

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life, to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?

I'm not sure where this one is from

When Love is found and hope comes home
When Love is found and hope comes home, sing and be glad that two are one.
When love explodes and fills the sky, praise God and share our Maker's joy.
When love has flowered in trust and care build both each day, that love may dare
To reach beyond home's warmth and light to serve and strive for truth and right.
When love is tried as loved ones change, hold still to hope though all seems strange,
Till ease returns and love grows wise through listening ears and opened eyes.
When love is torn and trust betrayed, pray strength to love till torments fade,
Till lovers keep no score of wrong, but hear through pain love's Easter song
Praise God for love, praise God for life in age or youth, in husband, wife.
Lift up your heart let love be fed through death and life in broken bread

We're not sure what we'll be using yet, but here are some I like:

Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
admit impediments. Love is not love
which alters when it alteration finds,
or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark.
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
it is the star to every wandering bark,
whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
within his bending sickle's compass come;
love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him.


ON MARRIAGE
From The Prophet
~ By Kahlil Gibran ~

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

Apache Wedding Blessing
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be the shelter for each other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be the warmth for the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before. Go now to your dwelling place to enter into the days of your life together. And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

Also using Kahlil Gibrain on Marriage as posted above

Great post topic!

Keep 'em coming!

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Posted by Pookiesangel

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life, to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?

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Thank you Jen- I love this one- I regret not paying attention in Catholic school- is this old or new testament?

Gospel reading:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Posted by Pookiesangel

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life, to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?

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we actually put George Elliots rendition on the cover of our Programs... everyone thought it was Beautiful

From our favorite book:The Alchemist.

“When he looked into her dark eyes and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. She smiled, and that was certainly an omen-the omen he had been awaiting, without even knowing he was, for all his life. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, ones dreamed would have no meaning. ‘Maktub’* thought the boy. The boy stepped closer to the girl, and when she smiled, he did the same. “


*Maktub –ancient Sanskrit for “it is written” or “destiny.”

An Ancient Sanskrit Poem

'Look to this day for it is life -- the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the realities and truths of existence - the joy of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty. For yesterday is already a memory and tomorrow is only a vision; But each Today, well lived, makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this one day for it and it alone is life.”

From Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable you should ever part. Because that is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and that is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow toward each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.