Why Marriage? Susan Artup, The Marriage Celebrant
This reading would be beautifully placed at the beginning of the ceremony – maybe after the introduction and welcome to guests. It is a personal view on what the commitment to marriage means. The reading talks of a certain integrity, a quality which the bond of marriage brings. Marriage alone doesn’t create this quality : the relationship does that, but having reached it, marriage is a logical conclusion.
It is by a contemporary American poet, Mari Nichols, entitled “ Why Marriage” :
Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,
With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body...Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me,
Who won't hold them against me,
Who loves me when I'm unlikable,
Who sees the small child in me, and
Who looks for the divine potential of me...Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night
With someone who thanks God for me,
With someone I feel blessed to hold...Because marriage means opportunity
To grow in love in friendship...Because marriage is a discipline
To be added to a list of achievements...Because marriages do not fail, people fail
When they enter into marriage
Expecting another to make them whole...Because, knowing this,
I promise myself to take full responsibility
For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness
I create me,
I take half of the responsibility for my marriage
Together we create our marriage...Because with this understanding
The possibilities are limitless.
