Daniel Steinbock

On September 5, 2009, I officiated the marriage of two dear friends, Thomas and Sabrina. Here is the invocation I wrote that opened the ceremony.

It is a gift we give to one another,
in these unsettled times,
to gather together under an old tree in Summer,
– as we have before
and as we will again,
in different times and temples than this one –
to author and celebrate the marriage of
Thomas Macario
and
Sabrina Rose.

These gatherings of ours
give occasion to the telling of truths:
where we say aloud what we inwardly know but speak of rarely.
Where we give thanks and say “I Love You” to those who made and raised us.
Where we smile at friends and say: “I have known you a long time.”
Where we say, in our own peculiar ways,
what the bee says to the flower,
the sea to the sea shore,
the tree’s leaves to the Sun’s shine.

And in saying these things,
it somehow reminds us of the passing of our lives.

In hearing what is spoken — here, now –
in the image of two people under an old tree,
we witness the wedding together of all the pairs of things:
hurt and its healing,
gift and its gratitude,
the ends and beginnings of a life.

You know, it sounds quite like two people saying ‘Thank You’ to each other.

All this is said, and all of us are gathered in, to remind you:
Love is.
There was never a time when it wasn’t.
All around you.