My brother is getting married on the weekend and they have asked me to do a reading at the service. I'm thrilled because they had not found a reading they were happy with when I showed them one of my favourite books - Prayer For The 21st Century by John Marsden. They loved it too and have decided to use it. I'm doubly thrilled because it is short, and easy to read so hopefully will be finished before I have time to hyper-ventilate! Cross you fingers for me on Saturday.
Prayer for the Twenty First Century
John Marsden
May the road by free for the journey,
May it lead where it promised it would.
May the stars that gave ancient bearings
Be seen, still be understood.
May every aircraft fly safely,
May every traveller be found,
May sailors in crossing the ocean
Not hear the cries of the drowned.
May gardens be wild, like jungles.
May nature never be tamed,
May dangers create of us heroes,
May fears always have names.
May the mountains stand to remind us
Of what it means to be young,
May we be outlived by our daughters,
May we be outlived by our sons.
May the bombs rust away in the bunkers,
And the doomsday clock be rewound,
May the solitary scientists, working,
Remembers the holes in the ground.
May the knife remain in the holder,
May the bullet stay in the gun,
May those who live in the shadows
Be seen by those in the sun.
Prayer for the Twenty First Century
John Marsden
May the road by free for the journey,
May it lead where it promised it would.
May the stars that gave ancient bearings
Be seen, still be understood.
May every aircraft fly safely,
May every traveller be found,
May sailors in crossing the ocean
Not hear the cries of the drowned.
May gardens be wild, like jungles.
May nature never be tamed,
May dangers create of us heroes,
May fears always have names.
May the mountains stand to remind us
Of what it means to be young,
May we be outlived by our daughters,
May we be outlived by our sons.
May the bombs rust away in the bunkers,
And the doomsday clock be rewound,
May the solitary scientists, working,
Remembers the holes in the ground.
May the knife remain in the holder,
May the bullet stay in the gun,
May those who live in the shadows
Be seen by those in the sun.
7 comments:
It's lovely and I know you will do a good job.
It reminded me to have a look at the reading from my wedding, I know it is a very long message but there might be a couple of people out there who might enjoy reading 'the invitation'
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.
What a lovely reading that is going to be! Hope the day is not too hot on Saturday.
Oooh, that book is one of my all time favourites too. I always put it in cards to new babes. Hope it goes well.
Why don't you break into song while you're up there. I know how much you love to perform. ..bit of a tap dance? ..no?..
Kristine
That is beautiful -- and so meaningful....good luck- imagine them all in their undies - actually maybe not!!!!
Hi Jenny,
Hope it went well yesterday.
Jodie
It was a beautiful reading and you did it beautifully. Love, Mum
Post a Comment