On Marriage - Part II.

Cody and I are not very religious people, for better or worse, so we didn't have any Bible passages read at the wedding. The one passage that I really felt strongly enough about to read at the wedding was actually the inspiration for the title of the last blog, so I thought I would post the passage here. Plus I was trying to remember it the other day and couldn't find it easily - now if I know it's here I can always find it. It's from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet." (If you're into this sort of thing and need a good read, this is one.)

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And
what of Marriage, master?
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you
shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white
wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be togheter even in the
silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance
between you.

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 on another of your bread but 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
thought they quiver with the same music.

Give you 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.

I love the passage because it's not insanely lovey-dovey and it's really how I feel about our lives and our marriage (disclaimer: obviously each marriage/relationship is different and one person's take on things might not be good/right/fit another). Maybe it's because we got married "later" (though I don't consider myself terribly old - yet) and we both had developed an adult life separate from each other before we got married. Who knows. All I know is that I'm not a "two become one" person - I'm more of a "two, separate, but together, are stronger." So, yeah, I like it so I thought I would post it - plus I've got a stack of paperwork that I was determined to go through before Cody gets home from school and I REALLY don't want to deal with paperwork right now so I'd do anything - including posting random book passages - to spend my time. :)