Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Writing the Ceremony

Terry, my next-door neighbor, has come to my rescue. Due to Kate and I dividing up the tasks of preparing for the wedding, I am writing up the ceremony.

The minister that will be marrying us has sent a sample ceremony that I am modifying and making our own. Twice in the ceremony, I have come to a section that says, "Reading goes here." The Rev has told us that we can have one scripture reading and one non-scripture (but church-appropriate) reading. I'd been pouring over poetry books, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, but without any luck of finding words that work for me. They were either too flowery, maudlin or goofy. As the time frittered itself away and our departure crept closer and closer, I had the bright idea of asking Terry for some help. Terry, my neighbor, is also a minister in a Christian church and through some other dealings over the fence, I've found him to be quite likable and not-at-all-preachy.

He was keen to help and after a bit of conversation about what I was after, he recommended some great readings. Rather than the traditional Corinthians passage, he had a great one from Genesis that I really liked. We were even able to find a translation that changed a "servant" reference to the word "companion." I liked that.

The time I've spent working on this with Terry has convinced me that I want to spend more time just hanging out with him. As well as being a spiritual fella, he seems reflective and a gentle soul. He likes to cycle, so let's see if we can't hit the road for a few rides this summer.

No comments: