The Wedding Party enters. The bride enters last walking between her mother and father. The attendants sit down. The Matron of Honor and Best Man move to the alter. Minister We are gathered as friends of Curt and Cathy to witness their melding of their lives in the forge of marriage, a joyful union of man and woman in love and trust.
Marriage is a social, legal, and religious ceremony, a union of mind, heart, body, and soul.
We shall soon witness Cathy and Curt' s declarations of love, friendship, trust, and commitment. The history of exchanging wedding vows is a long one, and in Western Civilization, despite the fact we are now perhaps the most progressive culture on the globe, the wedding vow is still deeply influenced by our deep cultural history of sexual oppression. The history of human beings has been marked with aggression, deception, and bloodshed, but also by stirring records of the great acts of friendship and love of which people are capable. Each wedding is a celebration of the human potential for goodness, a celebration of our ability to live in love and peace. May all of us go home today renewing our commitment to live in civilized harmony with all of the human race.