The Promise of Safety

In a world of uncertainty people seek a sense security where they can – in their jobs, their families and in their personal relationships. Wedding promises are the foundation for safety into the future: your marriage will be the one thing that you can count on, to all intents and purposes your commitment will remain unaltered, even if your circumstances don’t.

If you want to express this in a poem, “ I will be here” by Steven Curtis Chapman is perfect:

“In the morning when you wake,
If the sun does not appear,
I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
I will be here.

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind I will listen.
Through the winning, losing and trying we’ll be together,
And I will be here.
If in the morning when you wake,
If the future is unclear
I will be here.
As sure as seasons were made for change,
Our lifetimes were made for years, I will be here.

I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we’re older.
I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me.
We’ll be together and I will be here.
I will be true to the promises I’ve made
To you and to the one you gave to me.
I will be here.”

This poem would be just right before you exchange the legal commitment; it could be your “ personal vow” and could be read by you to each other – a stanza each and then the last together, your voices blending, why not? There would be emotion in that. Your ceremony does not have to be a flawless piece of theatre – tears and laughter and stumbling are what make it you.