Congrats to Robert & Samanthe - Husband & Wife

Dear Robert1 Constantine and Samanthe Mirror, today you are surrounded by your friends and family, all of whom are gathered to witness your marriage and to share in the joy of this occasion.

Life takes on meaning as it becomes composed of many meaningful events, some of which can be specified and planned for. One of these events is marriage.

As you know, no minister, no priest, no rabbi, no public official can marry you. Only you can marry yourselves. By a mutual commitment to love each other, to work toward creating an atmosphere of care and consideration and respect, by a willingness to face the tensions and anxieties that underlie human life, you can make your wedded life come alive

On this the day that begins your marriage, you stand somewhat apart from the rest of humanity. You stand within the charmed circle of your love.

Love is not meant to be and cannot be the possession of one person alone. True love serves as a source of common energy, as a fount from which you both draw sustenance to live your lives with creative courage. From this day onward you must come closer together than ever before; you must love one another in sickness and in health, for better and for worse. At the same time, let your love give you the strength to stand apart so that you may each seek out your unique destinies and make your special contributions to the world. The poet Rilke once said that marriage is not a matter of making a quick community of spirit by tearing down and destroying all boundaries. But rather a good marriage is that in which each appoints the other as a guardian of their solitude... Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people, infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side-by-side can grow up for them if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.

Today, as you join yourselves in marriage, there is a vast and unknown future stretching out before you. The possibilities and potentials of your married life are great; and now falls upon your shoulders the task of choosing values and making real your dreams.
I should like at this time to try to speak of some of the things which many of us here wish for you. First of all, we wish for you a love that makes both of you better people, a love that continues to give you joy and zest for living, that provides you with energy to face the responsibilities of life.

We wish for you a home--not just a place of stone and wood, but an island of sanity and serenity in a frenzied world. We hope that this home is not only a place of private joy and retreat, but also serves as a temple wherein the values of your life are generated and upheld. We hope that your home will encompass the beauty of nature--that it will have within it the elements of simplicity, exuberance, silence, color, and a concordance with the rhythms of life. We wish for you a home with books and poetry, music and spirituality -- a home with all the things that represent the highest strivings of men and women.

Finally, we wish that at the end of your lives you will be able to say these two things to each other: Because you have loved me, you have given me faith in myself. And because I have seen the good in you, I have received from you a faith in all humanity.

Declaration of Intention
Robert1, in light of this vision of life together, do you wish to take Samanthe as your wife, that you may live together in the holy bond of marriage? (I do)

Samanthe, in light of this vision of life together, do you wish to take Robert1 as your husband, that you may live together in the holy bond of marriage? (I do)

Congregational Support
Will each one of you here today do all that is in your power to support and encourage Robert1 and Samanthe in fulfilling the promises they make here today --if so, please respond by saying, 'We will'.

Exchange of Vows
The vows through which you will accept each other as husband and wife have no hidden power within them. Only to the extent that they express in words your continuing intention and commitment do they have meaning. And in a world where the pressures pushing people apart will sometimes feel stronger than those drawing people together, your commitment to one another will need to be creatively re-expressed in many different ways in the coming days and years. The expression in today's vows is an important and visible milestone in your journey together.

I, Robert1, take you,Samanthe, to be my wife from this time onward, to join with you and to share all that is to come, to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and to respond, and in all of our life together to be loyal to you with all my being.

I, Samanthe, take you, Robert1, to be my husband from this time onward, to join with you and to share all that is to come, to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and to respond, and in all of our life together to be loyal to you with all my being.

Pronouncement
Forasmuch as you Robert1 and you Samanthe have consented together in marriage, and have pledged your love and your commitment each to the other in the presence of God and of this company, I do now pronounce you husband and wife.