Greetings friends and family and welcome to this day of celebration. We are united to witness the marriage of Janel and Rocky. We've been invited to share in the commitment they make to each other today. They ask your blessing on this joyful occasion.

If life has any meaning to us at all, it possesses it because of Love. Love enriches our human experience. It is the reason for the peace in the family and the peace of the peoples of the Earth. A meeting between two beings who are made for each other is a beautiful miracle.

Janel and Rocky's understanding of the true meaning of marriage has resulted from many influences; their families, their friends, and each of their own personal beliefs. We are here not only to strengthen the binds of Janel and Rocky's love for each other but also to bring family and friends together to celebrate these same said bonds that hold us all together.

What defines Janel and Rocky's love today will change and grow to new depths in the future. This ceremony is the celebration of a single stage in a much larger process that is the love between husband and wife. The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union. They will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.

There are many things to say about marriage. Much wisdom concerning the joining together of two souls has come our way through all paths of belief, and from many cultures. With each union, more knowledge is gained and more wisdom gathered. Though we are unable to give all this knowledge to these two, who stand before us, we can hope to leave with them the knowledge of love and its strengths and the anticipation of the wisdom that comes with time.

Love has its seasons the same as does the Earth. In the Spring of love is the discovery of each other, the pulse of the senses, the getting to know the mind and heart of the other; a blooming like the buds and flowers of springtime.

In the summer of love comes the strength, the commitment to each other, the most active part of life, the sharing of joys and sorrows, the learning to be humans who are each complete and whole but who can merge each with the other, as the trees grow green and tall in the heat of the sun.

In the fall of love is the contentment of love that knows the other completely. Passion remains, and ease of companionship. The heart smoothes love into a steady light, glorious as the autumn leaves.

In the winter of love, there is parting and sorrow. But love remains, as do the stark and bare tree trunks in the snow, ready for renewal of love in the spring of life and love begin anew.

Now is the time of summer. Janel and Rocky have gathered before their friends to make a statement of their commitment to each other, to their love.

Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. As with any aspect of life, it has its cycles, its ups and its downs, its trials and its triumphs. With full understanding of this, ROCKY and JANEL have come here today to be joined in marriage.

Others would ask, at this time, who gives JANEL in marriage, but, as a woman is not property to be bought and sold, given and taken, I ask simply if she comes of her own will and if she has her family's blessing.

JANEL, is it true that you come of your own free will and accord?

[JANEL] Yes, it is true.

With whom do you come and whose blessings accompany you.

[BROTHER RICHARD] She comes with me, her brother, AND HAS her family's blessings.

Please join hands with your betrothed and listen to that which I am about to say.

Above you are the stars, below you are the stones, as time passes, remember…
Like a stone should your love be firm. Like a star should your love be constant. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage, let the strength of your wills bind you together, let the power of love and desire make you happy, and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Be close, but not too close. Possess one another, yet be understanding. Have patience with one another, for storms will come, but they will pass quickly.

Be free in giving affection and warmth. Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for you will have each other always.

ROCKY, I have not the right to bind thee to JANEL, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in her hand.

[ROCKY] It is my wish.

JANEL, if it be your wish for ROCKY to be bound to you, place the ring on his finger.

JANEL, I have not the right to bind thee to ROCKY, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in his hand.

[JANEL] It is my wish.

ROCKY, if it be your wish for JANEL to be bound to you, place the ring on her finger.

Do you, Rocky take Janel to be your wife,
To be her constant friend,
Her partner in life, and her true love?
To love her without reservation,
Honor and respect her,
Protect her from harm,
Comfort her in distress,
And to grow with her in mind and spirit?

[ROCKY] Yes, I do.

Do you, Janel take Rocky to be your husband,
To be his constant friend,
His partner in life, and his true love?
To love him without reservation,
Honor and respect him,
Protect him from harm,
Comfort him in distress,
And to grow with him in mind and spirit?

[JANEL] Yes, I do.

By the power vested in me by the State of Oregon, I now pronounce you wife and husband. May your love so endure that its flame remains a guiding light unto you. Celebrate with a kiss.