<div dir="ltr">Great poem! <div>Love,</div><div>Joan</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Dec 9, 2021 at 9:00 PM Toni Bernbaum via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" target="_blank">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word">Thank you Riante…….again and again……..so beautiful…..needs to be read at every wedding!<br><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Dec 9, 2021, at 4:59 PM, Riantee Rand via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" target="_blank">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div style="word-wrap:break-word">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">Holy
Marriage – </span>To Toni and Ron<span style="font-size:12pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">Let’s
not, <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">in
the name of freedom, <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">flee
from commitment<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">but dare it<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">for it is the true quest of life<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">its
highest challenge and accomplishment.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">Free
are those who having faced the nature of love<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">its
chasms, empty passageways,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">its triumphs and elations</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">without
any illusion,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">embark
on the ocean,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">determined
to live the adventure<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">at
all cost,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">refusing
neither the victories<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">nor
the wreckages,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">ready
to lose everything they own<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">and
willing to gain in the end<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">what’s
invaluable,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">the
kept promise,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">the
oath honored without deceit<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">in
the meeting of two lives.<u></u><u></u></span></p><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">The
tragedy would be not to attempt the impossible,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">to
always remain within our own limits.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">In
marriage we constantly show each other those limits,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">finding
one another in our most hidden places,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">bringing
out the secret and shadowy parts<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">of
each other.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">Every
time we love we save our world from the absurd.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">It
is one of the relationships that truly puts us to work<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">for
it is the pursuit through another<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">of
our own truth, our authentic voice.<u></u><u></u></span></p><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">Love
has only one goal, itself:<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">we
are invited to love and serve,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">so
that love and service<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">can
be of this world.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">In
the intimacy of bodies and souls<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">shared
nights and shared days<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">we
access the truth of the beloved,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">and
when we mix our breaths, our juices<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">we
are delivered to each other.<u></u><u></u></span></p><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">The
laws of being do exist that bind the lovers<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">to
one another;<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">they
fulfill our most ancient dream<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">shared
life, share food and drink<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">and
which each sip, with each bite,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">a
certainty: I am loved.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">Let
us shout with this oldest of dream,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">let
us weep and laugh with it,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">tremble
with it,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">let
us dance and embrace it<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">this
ancient dream:<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">to
be loved without any reason.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">to
be loved with no condition, no merit.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">To
be loved,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt">just
like that.<u></u><u></u></span></p><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span><br></div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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