Vows and Verses

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And now faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.

I love you.
You are my best friend.
Today I give myself to you in marriage.
I promise to encourage and inspire you,
to laugh with you, and to comfort you
in times of sorrow and struggle.
I promise to love you in good times and in bad,
when life seems easy and when it seems hard,
when our love is simple, and when it is an effort.
I promise to cherish you,
and to always hold you in highest regard.
These things I give to you today,
and all the days of our life.

We pledge to each other to be loving friends and partners in marriage.
To talk and to listen, to trust and appreciate one another;
to respect and cherish each other's uniqueness; and to
support, comfort and strengthen each other through life's joys and sorrows.
We promise to share hopes, thoughts and dreams as we build our lives together.
May our lives be ever intertwined, our love keeping us together.
We will build a home that is compassionate to all,
full of respect and honor for others and each other.
May our home be forever filled with peace, happiness and love.

As we stand beside the ocean tide,
may our love always be as constant and unchanging
as these never-ending waves that pour beneath our feet,
flowing endlessly from the depths of the sea;
your love came softly upon my heart,
just as the foam comes softly upon the sand,
and just as there will never be a morning
without the ocean's flow,
so there will never be a day
without my love for you.
I pledge myself to you this day.
Our love will be as unchanging
and dependable as the tide;
as these waters nourish the earth
and sustain life, may my constant devotion
nourish and sustain you
until the end of time.

Today, we reaffirm our commitment to each other
as beloveds and partners in marriage.
We continue to strive to be sensitive to each other's needs,
to be open and understanding with each other,
and to share our thoughts, our feelings,
and our experiences with each other.
We renew our promise to try always to
bring out the qualities of forgiveness, compassion,
and integrity in our selves and in each other.
We continue to cherish each other's uniqueness.
We continue to share in life's joys and remain steadfast
and comfort each other through life's sorrows.

Now you will feel no rain, for
each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for
each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for
each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but
there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the
journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion and
your days together be good and long upon the earth.

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and
remind yourselves often of what brought you together.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness,
gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship, as
they threaten all relationships at one time or another,
remember to focus on what is right between you,
not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms when
clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives -
remembering that even if you lose sight
of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for
the quality of your life together,
it will be marked by abundance and delight.

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, Master?
And he answered saying:
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 the 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.

I promise to give you the best of myself
and to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own person
and to realize that your interests, desires and needs
are no less important than my own.

I promise to share with you my time and my attention
and to bring joy, strength, and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you,
to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost
fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you,
to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship
alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and bad,
with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how.
Completely and forever.

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 a 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 but love thee better after death.

I take you as my partner, my friend and my love.
My hopes and dreams will now be intermingled with yours.
I will seek to balance my needs with those of our community and family.
I will openly draw from our combined experience
and feelings in our search for truth and meaning.
I will strive for harmony through compromise and understanding.

I will be forgiving, but not complacent.
From this day forward, I take shared responsibility
for our marriage, family, community and myself,
regardless of our successes or failures.

I promise to be faithful and true to you in mind,
body, and spirit; to cherish you and respect you;
and to be a source of comfort and encouragement,
free and bound by our love, as long as we shall live.

In the presence of God and these our Friends,
I take thee to be my <wife/husband>,
promising with Divine assistance to be unto thee
a loving and faithful <wife/husband>
as long as we both shall live.

On this the <day>, <month>, in the year of our Lord, <year>
<bride> and <groom>, appeared together,
and <groom> taking <bride>
by the hand, did, on this solemn and joyous occasion,
declare that he took
<bride> to be his wife, promising with Divine assistance
to be unto her a loving and faithful husband; and then,
in the same assembly, <bride>, did in like manner declare that
she took <groom> to be her husband,
promising with Divine assistance, to be unto him
a loving and faithful wife.
And moreover they, <groom> and <bride>,
did, as further confirmation thereof, then and there,
to this certificate set their hands.

Whereas <groom> of <groom's city> and <groom's state>,
son of <groom's father> and <groom's mother>,
and <bride> of <bride's city> and <bride's state>,
daughter of <bride's father> and <bride's mother>,
having declared their intentions of marriage with each other
to the <meeting house name>
monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
held at <meeting house city>, <meeting house state>,
their proposed marriage was allowed by that Meeting.

Now this is to certify to whom it may concern,
that for the accomplishment of their intentions,
this <day> day of <month>, in the year of our Lord <year>, they,
<groom> and <wife>,
appeared in a meeting for worship of the Religious Society of Friends,
held at <meeting house city>, <meeting house state>,
and <groom>, taking <bride> by the hand,
did on this solemn occasion, declare
that he took her, <bride>, to be his wife,
promising with Divine assistance to be unto her
a loving and faithful husband so long as they both shall live,
and then, in the same assemble
<bride> did in like manner declare that she took him,
<groom>, to be her husband,
promising with Divine assistance to be unto him
a loving and faithful wife so long as they both
shall live. And moreover, they, <groom> and <bride>,
did as further confirmation thereof,
then and there, to this certificate set their hands.

I, <bride/groom> take thee, <bride/groom>
to be my wedded <husband/wife>,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,
in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish,
'til death do us part,
according to God's holy ordinance;
thereto I plight thee my troth.
(Thereto I pledge my love).

<bride/groom>, I take you to be my lawfully wedded <husband/wife>.
Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you
as long as we both shall live.
I take you, with all your faults and strengths,
as I offer myself to you
with all my faults and strengths.
I will help you when you need help, and
turn to you when I need help.
I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life.

I, <bride/groom>, take you, <bride/groom>, to be my <husband/wife>.
I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad,
in sickness and in health. I will love you
and honor you all the days of my life.

I, <bride/groom>, take you <bride/groom>, for my <husband/wife>,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward, for better,
for worse, for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

I, <bride/groom>, take thee <bride/groom>, to be my <husband/wife>,
and pledge thee my troth, so long as ye both shall live.

I, <bride/groom>, take you, <bride/groom>, to be my <husband/wife>,
and these things I promise you:

I will be faithful to you and honest with you;
I will respect, trust, help and care for you;
I will share my life with you;
I will forgive you as we have been forgiven;
and I will try with you better to understand ourselves, the world, and God;
through the best and the worst of what is to come as long as we live.

<bride/groom>, Our miracle lies in the path we have chosen together.
I enter into this marriage with you knowing that the true magic of love
is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully.
Let us commit until death parts us.

I, <bride/groom>, take thee <bride/groom>, to be my <husband/wife>,
and before God and these witnesses I promise to be
a faithful and true <husband/wife>.

I, <bride/groom>, take thee, <bride/groom>, to be my wedded <husband/wife>.
To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
According to God's holy ordinance,
and thereto I pledge thee my faith.

Groom:
I promise you <bride>, that I will be
your loving and loyal husband from now on.
I will share with you all of life's joy and sorrow,
pleasure and pain, until death parts us.

Bride:
I promise you <groom>, that I will be
your loving and loyal wife from now on.
I will share with you all of life's joy and sorrow,
pleasure and pain, until death parts us.

I, <bride/groom>, take thee <bride/groom>, to be my <husband/wife>,
to have and to hold, from this day forward,
for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,
till death do us part, and thereto
I pledge thee my faith.

I, <bride/groom>, take thee <bride/groom>, to be my wedded <husband/wife>,
to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish, till death do us part,
according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto
I pledge thee my faith.

I, <bride/groom>, ask you, <bride/groom>,
to be my <husband/wife>, my friend, and my love.
On this day I affirm the relationship we have enjoyed,
looking to the future to deepen and strengthen it.
I will be yours in plenty and in want,
in sickness and in health, in failure and in triumph.
Together we will dream, will stumble but restore each other,
we will share all things, serving each other and our fellow humanity.
I will cherish and respect you, comfort and encourage you,
be open with you, and stay with you as long as we shall live,
freed and bound by our Love.

I take you, <bride/groom>, to be my <husband/wife> from this day forward,
to join with you and share all that is to come, and I promise to be faithful
to you of God and this congregation to declare your intent. Will you have this
<man/woman> to be your <husband/wife>, to live together in a holy marriage?
Will you love <him/her>, comfort <him/her>, honor <him/her>, and keep <him/her>
in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to <him/her>
as long as you both shall live?

I, <bride/groom>, take thee <bride/groom>,
to be my wedded <husband/wife>,
and I do promise and covenant,
before God and these witnesses,
to be thy loving and faithful <husband/wife>;
in plenty and in want,
in joy and in sorrow,
in sickness and in health,
as long as we both shall live.

This ring I give you, in token and pledge of
our constant faith and abiding love.

I, <bride/groom>, take thee <bride/groom>, to be my wedded <husband/wife>,
to have an to hold from this day forward, for better for worse,
for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part,
according to God's ordinance; and
thereto I pledge thee my troth.

I vow to be your faithful <husband/wife>,
understanding that marriage is a lifelong union,
and not to be entered into lightly, for the purpose of
mutual fellowship, encouragement and understanding; for
the procreation of children and their physical and spiritual nurture.
I hereby give myself to you in this cause
with my sacred vow before God.