UKC

Calling all the wise ones on these forums...

...I've just been asked today to do a non-religious reading at a mate's wedding, by said mate.
I'm up for it, so, simple question - anyone got any good suggestions for such a thing? I'm a bit stumped for something non-religious for such an occasion.
I'm definately not after anything sentimental.

Thank you all.

James.

PS. I've asked for some guidance from said mate, so when he replies I could narrow it down further for you all.

PPS. Apologies to said mate if he sees this, since you occasionally lurk on here!

In reply to James Rowe: It'll all be over by christmas?

In reply to James Rowe:
My dad did a good one at our wedding, but I can't remember much about it!!

I'm pretty sure we got it from a phamplet issued by the Humanist society - do a search for humanist weddings and you should get some ideas

In reply to James Rowe:

How about something from the Prophet? (Sorry if that's a bit vague, I'll find out more and post the rest later.)

Cheers

Toby

In reply to James Rowe:

Its not until April btw

That gives us some more time at least...

James.

In reply to James Rowe:

how about that poem which ends

"live every day as if it were your last and every night as if it were your first"

can't remeber what its called...

In reply to James Rowe: Claire and I had a passage from Captain correli's Mandolin, about knowing what love is when you roots are so intertwined, or words to that effect.

In reply to James Rowe:
On Marriage

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together 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 one 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 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.

From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

In reply to James Rowe: . . . or alternatively

I must go down to the sea again,
To the lonely sea and the sky.

I left my vest and socks down there.
I wonder if they're dry.

In reply to James Rowe:

How about the lyrics of 'Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter' by Irn Mdn?

Davie

In reply to James Rowe: Lyrics from Prodigy - Smack my bitch up?

Not religious one iota

In reply to I am the God of Strathyre:

Hehe....I tried to convince the Mrs that that would be the most appropriate as she walked down the aisle.

To the OP: Seriously it is their day tell them that you don't want to ruin their day and you would feel happier if they suggested something that they would like and you would be happy to read it.

In the end we (well I) couldn't find anything non-religious that wasn't horrendously soppy so we binned the idea of the reading.

In reply to James Rowe: That's a good question. How about some John Cooper Clarke?

No, not 'I married a monster from outer space' (although, if you're feeling devilish...). I was thinking of 'I wanna be yours', which I think you'll find somewhere on a website addressing exactly the question you're asking (I had cause to look for an answer to it a while back, but can't remember the name of the site. Google will find it though).

If you did want to veer towards the sentimental, you could try reading the lyrics of Richard Thompson's 'a heart needs a home'. I think the best musical version of this is done by Shawn Colvin and Loudon Wainwright III on a tribute album, which I think is called 'beat the retreat'.

T.

In reply to James Rowe:
I second the reccomendation of the Prophet - Khalil Gibran

"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 white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together 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 one 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 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. "


Bit of aw'right, in'nit?

In reply to James Rowe: Another nod for the prophet. Worked for me! Used a fair bit at civil ceremonies, but I think that reflects the quality and heritage.

By the way, Kahlil Gilbran, born 1883, lived in Lebanon I think.

In reply to James Rowe: at my mum and stepdad's wedding i read a shakespeare sonnet, and my littler step-sister read the owl and the pussycat. Maybe shakespeare would be better for grownups...

In reply to James Rowe:



Tis dooomed, the whole HEATHEN Shenanighans... is doomed

In reply to James Rowe:

A nice bit of Shelley:

Love's Philosophy

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In another's being mingle--
Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What is all this sweet work worth,
If thou kiss not me?

In reply to Robynbobbin:
i was at a wedding several years ago, and one of the readings was a passage from the Velveteen Rabbit, there was not a dry eye in the place. consider it...

--------------------------
The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

In reply to James Rowe:

There is one simple answer to this question.

Alcohol and lots of it.

Prepare nothing and start drinking as early as humanly possible(preferably the day before). When the time comes you'll know exactly what to say.

Unfortunatley it's more than likely you won't be able to say it.

Andy

In reply to slopey:





AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaWWWH BLESS .....


LOVE U Slopey,
I really DO !!!!!
XXXX

In reply to slopey: Ta for that Slopey. It was a reading at a mass my parents had to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. I remembered the sense of it, but not where it came from . . . and now neither of them is alive, didn't know where to ask to find out what it was. So I shall copy that and keep it somewhere.

T.

In reply to Tony Buckley: I know, replying to your own posts is never a good sign, but I've just found the poem out there in webland. Enjoy...

let me be your vacuum cleaner
breathing in your dust
let me be your ford cortina
i will never rust
if you like your coffee hot
let me be your coffee pot
you call the shots
i wanna be yours

let me be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days
let me be your dreamboat
when you wanna sail away
let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
i don’t care
i wanna be yours

let me be your electric meter
i will not run out
let me be the electric heater
you get cold without
let me be your setting lotion
hold your hair with deep devotion
deep as the deep atlantic ocean
that’s how deep is my emotion
deep deep deep deep de deep deep
i don’t wanna be hers
i wanna be yours


T.

In reply to Tony Buckley:

glad to help without even knowing i was helping!
that book is easily one of my all time favourites, i went hunting for a first edition for my nephew when he was born but the prices were up in the many hundreds of dollars... who knew?
chastity, have we met?

In reply to Tony Buckley:

Yeah, but can he do the accent?

Lots of people have Gibran on marriage, but the one on children is also good - if you think they've got any plans for kids that is!

Also don't forget Shakespeare - Sonnet 116 is popular but sure there's more...

In reply to James Rowe:

The Gilbran 'Prophet' thing mentions 'God' though so hardly non-religious.....


We had an atheist friend do a reading of the Apache blessing:-


Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.

Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no loneliness,
For each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.

And may your days be good and long upon the earth.