Reading and Song Suggestions

 

Readings

 

Extract from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

By Louis De Bernieres

 

Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement,  it is not promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is leftover when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two”.

 

 

Victor Hugo

Les Miserables

 

You can give without loving, but you can never live without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again and great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And loved in spite of ourselves.

 

 

Thoughts on Marriage

Kahlil Gibran

 

Love one another,

But make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous but let each one of you be alone.

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together; for the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

 

 

Excerpt from

Tuesday’s With Morrie by Mitch Albon

 

“Still, Morrie said", there are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage. If you don’t respect the other person, you’re gonna have trouble. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don’t have a common sense of values in life, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike.”

“And the biggest one of those values, Mitch?”

“Yes?”

“Your belief in the importance of your marriage “

He sniffed, then closed his eyes for a moment.

“Personally” he sighed, his eyes still closed

“I think marriage is a very important thing to do, and you’re missing a lot if you don’t try it”.

He ended the subject by quoting a poem he believed in like a prayer. “ Love each other or perish “

 

 

Poem

The Keys to Love by Robert M. Millay

 

The key to love is understanding...

the ability to comprehend

not only the spoken word,

but those unspoken gestures,

the little things that say

so much by themselves.

 

The key to love is forgiveness...

to accept each other's faults

and pardon mistakes,

without forgetting -

but with remembering

what you learn from them...

 

The Key to love is trust...

though dark doubts

lay in hollowed thoughts,

it must shine brightly on

with reassuring radiance

that supresses fear with faith.

 

The key to love is sharing...

facing your good fortunes

as well as the bad, together;

both conquering problems

forever searching for ways

to intensify our happiness.

 

The key to love is giving...

without thought of return, 

but with the hope of just

a simple smile

and by giving-in, but never up...

 

The key to love is respect...

realising that you are

two separate people

with different ideas;

that you don't belong to

each other,

but that you belong with

each other

and share a mutual bond.

 

The key to love is inside us all...

it takes time and patience

to unlock all the ingredients

that will take you to its threshold;

it is a continual learning process

that demands a lot of work...

but the rewards are more than 

worth the effort...

 

And you

have the key

to each other.

 

 

“ US TWO”

by A.A. Milne

 

 

From the movie The Wedding Singer

Adam Sandler

I wanna make you smile……

 

 

Songs  (to go out or for signing)

 

Loyal  - Dave Dobbin

 

Love is Easy  -  McFly

 

I Will Wait  -  Mumford & Sons

 

Locked out of Heaven  -  Bruno Mars

 

The Rose  -  Solo Mio

 

Ho Hey  -  The Lumineers

 

I'm a Believer  -  The Voice