Beatnik Love Poem (paraphrase of Song of Songs 8:6-7 and 1 Corinthians 13)

Beatnik Love

Paraphrase of Song of Songs 8:6-7 and 1 Corinthians 13

by Rachel Giles

Set me as a tattoo on your heart

      Seal my ring on your finger

For LOVE is as strong as death,

Our souls entwined breathe the same breath

Hearts protected, bound together

      Distressed only to become enmeshed

For ardent love is as unrelenting as Sheol

LOVE can’t be bought, L O V E    c a n ’ t     b e   s o l d

When love flashes over,

It consumes beyond the fire load

Its flames are fierce and daunting,

Nothing can be found that it can’t corrode

Mighty waters cannot put out the flames of love!
Floods, rivers, not even torrents of ran from above!

Without it,          we are nothing

Even if we have faith to move mountains,

The gift to prophecy

Understand all mysteries;

speak all languages;

converse with angels;

offer our bodies to be burned;

give everything to feed the poor!

             

Without love…

Everything means nothing

Of this, I ensure.

LOVE is patient, and kind

Never  jealous

Boastful

proud or rude

Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered

Keeping records of wrong,                it doesn’t include

Love protects from evil

LOVE rejoices in the truth

Love is always supporting,

Loyal

Hopeful

Trusting

In it, there will never be room for a ruse

Love never fails!

It never ends!

It never flees!

Prophecies will stop, Languages will no longer be spoken

Knowledge forgotten, Understanding be broken

We don’t know everything

And our prophecies are not complete

But what is perfect will someday appear

And what isn’t perfect will then disappear

The only things that will remain

And not collapse at our feet

Are faith, hope and love

…everything else,               
                                                            LOVE        will defeat.

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This poem was written for my upcoming wedding. Do not use without permission or credit given. And, while I'm at it, I'm still looking for someone to perform it. So if you're available on September 15, 2012 and want to hang out in Upstate, NY, you just let me know. ;-)

Unique Wedding Readings on Love and Marriage

Oh my, the details of planning a wedding! In thinking about ceremony components, I realized one thing very quickly: I don't want the normal readings. I want something more meaningful, personal, and unique than the typical pieces. There are still a few biblical literature pieces I wanted to include, so I actually combined them into a beatnik poem to change it up and provide something fresh and personalized (which I'll share next post!). Otherwise, though, (after hours of research,) I was able to find three readings on love and marriage which really struck me on a deep level. I want to share them with you as I try to decide which one to include in my upcoming ceremony. I hope that you, also, will be inspired to think about the meaning of marriage and thus the sacredness of that relationship through these pieces. <3 p="p">

From The Irrational Season By Madeleine L'Engle

But ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take. It is indeed a fearful gamble. Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature.

To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take. If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation. It takes a lifetime to learn another person. When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected.

 From Now We Are Six by A.A. MilneA soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we're safe in our own paradise. Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we're two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we've found the right person. Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.

To Love is Not to Possess
by James Kavanaugh

To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose one's self in another.
Love is to join and separate,
To walk alone and together,
To find a laughing freedom
That lonely isolation does not permit.
It is finally to be able
To be who we really are
No longer clinging in childish dependency
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,
It is to be perfectly one's self
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another--and to one's inner self.
Love only endures when it moves like waves,
Receding and returning gently or passionately,
Or moving lovingly like the tide
In the moon's own predictable harmony,
Because finally, despite a child's scars
Or an adult's deepest wounds,
They are openly free to be
Who they really are--and always secretly were,
In the very core of their being
Where true and lasting love can alone abide.

My Single Mom Life

I technically spent about a year of my life as a "single mother." The night before we left, I knew it was our last night. I knew that in the morning, if God provided an opportunity, I had to get us out. There was no other option at that point, and so the girl who was a virgin when she got married and the woman who didn't believe in divorce, packed spent four terrified hours the next morning packing cereal, clothes, and diapers into laundry baskets. I then buckled my 6-month-old son and barely 2-year-old daughter into their car seats, locked the door, and we left.

For the next year, I dealt with aftermath of leaving a domestic abuse situation. Of leaving a spouse. Of walking through Walmart with two kids and no ring on my finger. Of trying to find full time work, take care of my kids, figure out what I was doing with my marriage, how to survive, how to not go back, to not become depressed, to not make bad choices (I did, unfortunately!). Eventually, we moved off of my sister's futon (all three of us) and we were able to move back into the house that I owned. I was working as a paramedic full time while nursing, cloth diapering, and now had the title of "divorcee." I was, officially, a Single Mom.

I heard a lot of things, like that I was sinning to not go back, and that it doesn't matter what the other person does--I need to just keep forgiving. I heard that no one would ever want me because I was a mother. I heard that if I did allow a man into my life at some point, I was a bad mother and that my children wouldn't be safe. I also heard people tell me that they were sorry they never realized what had been going on for almost 5 years, or that they knew what had been going on and were sorry that they never said anything. I heard people tell me that they were really proud of me, because they grew up watching domestic violence in their home and that it was a horrifying experience to grow up in.

There are a lot of curious people when someone becomes a single parent. A lot of people that want to know what's going on, to judge either in support or attack, to make commentaries and speculations...but there aren't a lot of people who want to help. All of the sudden, when you are a single parent (whether married or not--I was a single mom long before I left), simple tasks like grocery shopping and mowing your lawn become a really big deal. You can't leave the kids home or unattended while you do these things. Errands like mailing a package become much more difficult when you have to hold two children. Even if you are lucky enough to have childcare so you can work, when you come back home, your work doesn't end because you are still mom and the only adult responsible for the upkeep of the home, bills, and family.

The worst part is when 9pm hits. All of the sudden, everything stops. Everything is quiet, and you are alone. This is when it's easiest to fall into depression, to make bad choices out of your loneliness, to not take care of yourself and get the rest you need because you don't want to go to bed alone.

So to everyone who knows a single parent, lend a hand. Bring a meal. Watch the kids so she can buy groceries. Help mow the lawn. Call her at 9pm, or better yet, show up with a movie and chocolate. And more than anything, tell that mom that you love her, and give her a hug. She may not have heard it for a long time, and she may not have been touched by anyone over the height of 3 feet all week. You can make a huge difference in the life of a mother or father, just by simply being there.


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