<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Beautifully written, Riantee!<div class=""><br class=""><div class="">Love,Lee<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Dec 11, 2021, at 11:20 AM, joan burleigh via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">Great poem! <div class="">Love,</div><div class="">Joan</div></div><br class=""><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" class="">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:<br class=""></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" class="">Thank you Riante…….again and again……..so beautiful…..needs to be read at every wedding!<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Dec 9, 2021, at 4:59 PM, Riantee Rand via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" target="_blank" class="">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap:break-word" class=""><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">Holy
Marriage – </span>To Toni and Ron<span style="font-size:12pt" class=""><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">Let’s
not, <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">in
the name of freedom, <u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">flee
from commitment<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">but dare it<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">for it is the true quest of life<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">its
highest challenge and accomplishment.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">Free
are those who having faced the nature of love<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">its
chasms, empty passageways,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">its triumphs and elations</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">without
any illusion,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">embark
on the ocean,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">determined
to live the adventure<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">at
all cost,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">refusing
neither the victories<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">nor
the wreckages,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">ready
to lose everything they own<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">and
willing to gain in the end<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">what’s
invaluable,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">the
kept promise,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">the
oath honored without deceit<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">in
the meeting of two lives.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">The
tragedy would be not to attempt the impossible,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">to
always remain within our own limits.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">In
marriage we constantly show each other those limits,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">finding
one another in our most hidden places,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">bringing
out the secret and shadowy parts<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">of
each other.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">Every
time we love we save our world from the absurd.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">It
is one of the relationships that truly puts us to work<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">for
it is the pursuit through another<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">of
our own truth, our authentic voice.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">Love
has only one goal, itself:<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">we
are invited to love and serve,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">so
that love and service<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">can
be of this world.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">In
the intimacy of bodies and souls<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">shared
nights and shared days<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">we
access the truth of the beloved,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">and
when we mix our breaths, our juices<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">we
are delivered to each other.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">The
laws of being do exist that bind the lovers<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">to
one another;<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">they
fulfill our most ancient dream<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">shared
life, share food and drink<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">and
which each sip, with each bite,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">a
certainty: I am loved.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">Let
us shout with this oldest of dream,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">let
us weep and laugh with it,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">tremble
with it,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">let
us dance and embrace it<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">this
ancient dream:<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">to
be loved without any reason.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">to
be loved with no condition, no merit.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">To
be loved,<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt" class="">just
like that.<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-size:12pt" class=""> </span><br class=""></div><p class="MsoNormal"><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></p>
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