Foreverwed.com ~ View topic - A Reading for fathers during the wedding ceremony

Site Admin Joined: 07 Jun 2002 Posts: 618

There are three readings below:

ALWAYS HAVE A DREAM IN YOUR HEART

by Collin McCarty

May you know, in your heart that others are always thinking of you.

May you always have rainbows that follow the rain.

May you celebrate the wonderful things about you.

And when tomorrow comes, may you do it all over again.

May you remember how full of smiles the days can be.

May you believe that what you search for, you will see.

May you find time to smell the flowers, and find time to share the beauty of you.

May you envision today as a gift and tomorrow as another.

May you add a meaningful page to the diary of each new day, and may you make

"living happily ever after . . ." something that will really come true.

And may you always keep planting the seeds of your dreams.

Because if you keep believeing in them, they'll keep trying their best . . . to blossom for you

************************************************************

Ithica

When you start on your journey to Ithaca,
then pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
Do not fear the Lestrygonians
and the Cyclopes and the angry Poseidon.
You will never meet such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your body and your spirit.
You will never meet the Lestrygonians,
the Cyclopes and the fierce Poseidon,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not raise them up before you.

Then pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many,
that you will enter ports seen for the first time
with such pleasure, with such joy!
Stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and corals, amber and ebony,
and pleasurable perfumes of all kinds,
buy as many pleasurable perfumes as you can;
visit hosts of Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from those who have knowledge.

Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for long years;
and even to anchor at the isle when you are old,
rich with all that you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have taken the road.
But she has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not defrauded you.
With the great wisdom you have gained, with so much experience,
you must surely have understood by then what Ithacas mean.

--By Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)
***********************************************************

This Marriage

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.