spinmelody's Journal

I had the honor of reciting the following blessing during a wedding over which I presided recently:

Adapted from Illuminata by Marianne Williamson
Dear God,
Please make of this relationship a great and holy adventure.
May their joining be a sacred space.
May the two of them find rest here, a haven for their souls.
Remove from them any temptation to judge themselves or each other or to direct each other.
May they surrender to You their conflicts and their burdens.
We know You are their Answer and their rock.
Help them not forget.
Bring them together in heart and mind as well as body and guide them in the ways of holiness.
May this relationship be a burst of light.
May it be a fount of love and wisdom for them, for their family, for their community, and for their world.
May this bond be a channel for Your love and healing, a vehicle of Your grace and power.
As lessons come and challenges grow, let them not be tempted to forsake each other.
Let them always remember that in each other they have the most beautiful woman, the most beautiful man, the strongest one,
the sacred one in whose arms we are repaired.
May they remain young in this relationship.
May they grow wise in this relationship.
Bring them what You desire for them.
And show them how you would have them be.
Thank You, Dear God.

I pondered the line, "May it be a fount of love and wisdom for them, for their family, for their community, and for their world." This one line gave me a visual of a fountain gushing forth with love and wisdom....after all, marriage is an institution formed by God and God is love.

As well, I considered how Jesus spoke of the 'glory" he had "before the world was born" (John 17:5). He might even be referred to as wisdom personified prior to his birth. (Proverbs 8). My point is, we all have a beginning far earlier than our birth here on this earth when we are in our true essence of love, beauty, kindness...connected directly to Source. When we come into this world our ego begins to form and take center stage....but our true essence remains a fountain of love which we can allow to flow through us into our world. We can learn to pour forth our virtue and kindness and yet know when to retreat (disengage the ego) and not exert our power (self importance) over others. A balancing act as always. :)

This whole thought culminated for me in reading the 28th verse of the Tao Te Ching where Lao-tzu speaks of preserving our "original qualities". How so? By being "a pattern to the world" we can live virtuously. We can look at the design of nature around us, stop insisting on change, trust perfection, suspend the ego, and be willing to hear and receive. When we are inclined to think we 'know it all' perhaps we can learn to listen intently. A fountain doesn't gush forth constantly. It retreats...the love is there, it just doesn't need to 'prove' anything (that would be the ego).

We are all connected to Source. We need only trust and allow it to guide us in "the ways of holiness", to live in harmony...."Truly, the best governor governs least."

Tao Te Ching - 28th verse

Know the strength of man,
but keep a woman's care!
Be in a valley under heaven;
if you do, the constant virtue
will not fade away.
One will become like a child again.

Know the white,
keep to the black,
and be a pattern to the world.
To be the pattern to the world is
to move constantly in the path of virtue
without erring a single step,
and to return again to the infinite.

One who understands splendor
while holding to hunility
acts in accord with eternal power.
To be the fountain of the world is
to live the abundant life of virtue.

When the uninformed is formed into objects,
Its original qualities are lost.
If you preserve your original qualities,
you can govern anything.
Truly, the best governor governs least.