“The meaning of marriage begins in the giving of words. We cannot join ourselves to one another without giving our word.  And this must be an unconditional giving, for in joining ourselves to one another, we join ourselves to the unknown.  We can join one another only by joining the unknown….What you alone think it ought to be, it is not going to be.  Where you alone think you want it to go, it is not going to go.  It is going where the two of you—and marriage, time, life, history and the world—will take it.  You do not know the road; you have committed your life to a way.”

-Wendell Berry.

This is the miracle of marriage, that you take each other’s hands and share this journey into the unknown, with faith and trust in one another and in the journey itself to hold you and to form you and to bring forth the best in each of you.  And so you make a commitment to one another and to your future together with courage in the knowledge that love never fails.

 

Our society upholds marriage as the foundation of family and the root relationship in our communities. Certainly marriage can fulfill this high expectation but not without a great deal of hard work, commitment and support. It is not that we need to lower our expectations for marriage but we do need to ground these expectations with practical support and understanding about the inevitable challenges the marriage will face.

 

Ms. Cassedy is committed to preparing couples for the wonderful and challenging lifetime journey that marriage entails. She is also well-versed in creating and customizing ritual to meet a couple’s personal faith tradition and understanding.

Sherry Cassedy is a licensed minister in the State of California. She has a Masters degree in Transpersonal Psychology and a Certificate in Spiritual Guidance. She also has a Law degree and works as a lawyer-mediator with couples in facilitating premarital and divorce separation agreements.