Foundations of Marriage
by Regina Hill
Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything...In marriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together. Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as a friend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each other to be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in total agreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly three things need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness.

Hindu Marriage Poem
You have become mine forever.
Yes, we have become partners.
I have become yours.
Hereafter, I cannot live without you.
Do not live without me.
Let us share the joys.
We are word and meaning, unite.
You are thought and I am sound.

May the nights be honey-sweet for us.
May the mornings be honey-sweet for us.
May the plants be honey-sweet for us.
May the earth be honey-sweet for us.

IN LOVE MADE VISIBLE
By Mary Swenson

In love are we made visible
As in a magic bath
are unpeeled
to the sharp pit
so long concealed

With love's alertness
we recognize
the soundless whimper
of the soul
behind the eyes
A shaft opens
and the timid thing
at last leaps to surface
with full-spread wing

The fingertips of love discover
more than the body's smoothness
They uncover a hidden conduit
for the transfusion
of empathies that circumvent
the mind's intrusion

In love we are set free
Objective bone
and flesh no longer insulate us
to ourselves alone
We are released
and flow into each other's cup
Our two frail vials pierced
drink each other up

Love as a challenge – causing advancement, personal evolution and a shared life quest
by Rainer Rilke

" For one human being to love another human being; this is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us – the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation. Loving at first does not mean merger, surrender and uniting with another person.
Love is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become something in ourselves, to become world in ourselves for the sake of another person. Love is a great, demanding claim on us, something that chooses us and calls us to vast distances."

 You Never Fail to make me Smile

I thought we were the perfect couple
High above the rest of the world
But it turned out to be the opposite
Although deep inside it hurts me badly
But I still managed to put on a smile

We've been through a lot together
Through high tides, through barren lands
And there were times when we argued and fought
But those times I could never forget
For they too, make me smile

I am not perfect in any way
That, my love, I know by hard
But I could not remember when
I did not succumb to you
To fulfil your every desire

But don't get me wrong
Thinking I have regrets doing those deeds
Those things I did simply because
I wanted to see your lively beautiful smile
And in the end, did we not both smiled?

But now it seemed that things have changed
I hardly smile for within my heart
Lies an unspeakable sadness
But even so I held my head up high
To face this immeasurable world alone

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