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Animal Attendants in your Ceremony

August 20, 2017

warrenturner Ceremony, Weddings , , Leave a comment

Animal Attendants In Your Ceremony
Posted on August 19, 2017 | Author Cynthia Dumont

The animals in fairy tales steal our hearts: Cinderella’s songbirds, Bambi’s butterflies and the Darling children’s Nana in Peter Pan. But how about incorporating these icons into your own real-life fairy tale? If you want to bring animals like these into your wedding ceremony, you can certainly do it. But to make sure you get the happy ending you dream of, here are a few important things you should know.

Doves
Releasing a dove is a symbol of hope. During your ceremony, you could release just two doves to symbolize your union and future together, or a flock to represent the support of your family and friends.
• The doves used for this purpose are white homing pigeons with an innate ability to find their way home within a 500 mile radius.
• Use a professional dove release company to make sure the birds are properly trained and cared for.
• Unprofessional sources may use ringneck doves, who are not strong fliers and do not have the instinct to return home, leaving them vulnerable to predators.
• Contact the National White Dove Release Society to find a responsible company near you.
Here is a very good wedding guide from Cindy Dumont of North Hampton, NH

Butterflies
Setting butterflies free during your ceremony is a dramatic representation of transition. Butterflies can be purchased individually or in masses.
• Butterflies are bred by reputable companies specifically for this purpose, so be sure to reserve them in advance.
• Butterflies are housed in envelopes until their release. It’s instinctual for them to fly once the envelope is opened.
• However, temperatures must be over 70 degrees for them to fly. Consider the average temps in your area and wedding month.
• Warmth, daylight, clear skies, and low wind are the conditions these beauties need for a successful release.
• Look for companies associated with the professional organization, International Butterfly Breeders Association, Inc. (IBBA) for responsible handing.

Furry Friends
You may have a fur baby you’d like to include in the ceremony. Here are some tips to make your day stress-free. (well, almost!)
• First, make sure the venue allows animals on the property.
• If your pet is the ring bearer, for example, use some sort of harness or collar with a pouch to store the precious cargo.
• Use a leash to guarantee that an unexpected distraction will not cause down-the-aisle chaos, and assign someone NOT in your wedding party to walk with the leash in hand.
• No one can control when nature calls, but if possible, have someone walk your pet in a private place just before the ceremony. Don’t forget the pooper scooper!
• Ask a friend or neighbor to be ready with the get-away car to take your furry family member home after the ceremony or after the family formals are taken.

Your wedding ceremony should be unique, expressing everything that is special about you and your spouse-to-be. If a fairy tale wedding is something you’ve always dreamed of, why not complete the scene with creatures of nature? Discuss this idea with your officiant. That’s what we’re here for.

Contact Cindy Dumont at her beautiful website 

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Is there a dating site for Neo-Nazis? What percentage of white are you?

August 19, 2017

warrenturner Uncategorized 1 Comment

-Europeans -Normies -Red Pilling

What do you think of when you see these terms? If they are not familiar to you turn on your podcast app.

Friday, August 18th’s episode of the New York Times podcast The Daily is an eye opener (an ear alert?) An “investigative reporter” lurks in some white supremacy chat rooms. What he heard might be hard for us to believe. Hate, arrogance, calls for civil war, just to mention a few, are shocking.

Maybe they shouldn’t be so startling. It might be time for us to understand what is going on and accept that these people say that with this President they are free to do whatever they want. Take a look at RationalWiki to see this incredible glossary, the introduction of which reads:

“The alt-right uses a lexicon filled with memes, stolen left-wing terminology with altered meanings, and in-jokes. Whether this is because the alt-right is just a bunch of cringey 14-year-olds or because they hope to hide their racist intentions, the world may never know. (spoiler: it’s both)”

When we see young white men marching along at night with the tiki torches chanting hate and bigotry, it is frightening. But we can’t cower in fear. We can not be bystanders. Let’s arm ourselves, both with information and determination. We are not a white country and we do NOT want to have a white country.

Lying Hillary

August 18, 2017

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Ever since that night in November as we watched the results of the 2016 Presidential election roll in, I have often almost cried that Hillary Rodham Clinton was not elected.

She said once:  “To every little girl who dreams big, I say: Yes, you can be anything you want–even President.” And then this country allowed misogyny and gutter politics to block her from the White House.

Will we soon, or ever, have a female President? I don’t know. I am a male who has worked hard on ridding myself of sexism but I think many of our institutions and political movements still have not.

The problem is that wonderful women like Hillary bog down and are rejected not because they are aren’t exceptional in their work but because they are not male.

The Democratic Party is faced with a kind of Hobson’s Choice. If it wants it’s candidate to be elected then he must be a man or…what? nothing? Which is what we got. Plus, not only nothing but a mean spirited, dangerous, cry baby. But he is a man, right. Goddamn.

In my not-so-humble opinion, the Democrats should nominate another woman and let out all stops to do whatever it takes to get her elected.

Wedding readings that tell your story

August 18, 2017

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Wedding readings that tell your story  Author Cindy Dumont

poem image

To create a beautiful and powerful wedding ceremony, your wedding officiant will strive to weave together your past, present, and future as a couple. A collection of just the right words, placed in just the right order, tells the story of who you are, touching the hearts of everyone within earshot. Readings play an important role in that narrative.

Yes, you may already know you want to incorporate readings to help define this moment, but perhaps you don’t know where to begin. Readings and quotes can come from almost any source, but here are some classic sources to consider.

The Bible 

Many rely on their faith as a GPS for life. I officiated a wedding for a couple who ascribes to this philosophy. Here are a few readings they chose, setting the tone for their sacred ceremony.

  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs…”
  • Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14 “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…” 
  • Song of Solomon 2: 10-13 “My beloved speaks and says to me: Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land…”

Song lyrics

As an officiant, when couples tell me their love stories, I often hear their words set to music, almost like a soundtrack to their lives, and I think of the perfect song. Here are a few recent situations and the songs I suggested.

  • Samantha and Ronny were separated during Ronny’s military tour in Afghanistan. In an effort to feel close to her after he’d been away a while, Ronny asked Sam to go outside and look at the stars. He promised to do the same. The lyrics I read were from the song Wishing on the Same Star by Diane Eve Warren. Incidentally, when Sam went outside, Ronny was standing there. He had finished his tour and come home to marry her.
  • Brittany and Dave met in the second grade and were each other’s best friend until life took them on different paths after college. After being apart for six years, each came home to the other, physically and emotionally, and married. The song lyrics I chose for them was You’re My Home by Billy Joel.
  • If you use song lyrics in your ceremony, consider using that same song as your first dance. You’ve introduced the lyrics to your guests in your ceremony, and then they get to hear it during your reception. How about I Choose You, written by Sarah Bareilles or A Thousand Years written by Christina Perry?

Movies

Think of all the great love stories portrayed in movies. Do any of them sound like yours? Here are a few epic examples to inspire you.

  • Replace the words in When Harry Met Sally with those that apply to you, “I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts….”
  • In The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks writes, “I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, every dream I’ve ever had….Every day we have together is the greatest day of my life….”
  • Love Disney classics? Steal a scene from Pocahontas, “If I never knew you, If I never felt this love, I would have no inkling of how precious life can be…”

Books

It seems like I’m stating the obvious, but books are a great source of readings. Whether you’re looking for pretty prose or silly sonnets, books are where it’s at.

  • This is from The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach. “A 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…”
  • Children’s books provide a clear path to truths. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams is a bride favorite. “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real…”
  • The Irrational Season by Madeleine L’Engle is one that my own husband chose for our wedding. “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…”

Poems

Poets are the ultimate artists, using words as their medium to express the profound mysteries of love. Weaving poems into your ceremony will add a sense of romance like nothing else can.

  • The works of Maya Angelou are provocative. Here is one of her classics called Touched by an Angel. “We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our sight to liberate us into life…”
  • In a recent wedding I officiated, two people read this e.e. cummings poem in concert. The second person read the words in parenthesis. “i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)…”
  • Graham was a gardener. A tree in his future mother-in-law’s yard was dying. Together, Graham and his fiancé Erin, nurtured it back to life until it bore fruit. Erin chose the poem Together, by Jo Lynn Wood as her reading. “Two trees near to each other stood when they were young and life was new. Their limbs reach out and their branches entwine and thus together they grew…”

Another important reading resource is your officiant. Use these examples as a starting point when searching for the perfect words to describe your unique love story. If not these, it’s likely your JP has a notebook full of beautiful words for you to choose from.

Contact Cindy Dumont at her beautiful website

The time for resistance is upon us

August 17, 2017

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If you think President Trump is a joke, you are right. He is also a dangerous ignoramus. We cannot let him have our country. We refuse to be a fascist dictatorship.

Does that sound like extreme hyperbole? It isn’t. The danger of this President is as serious as that.

Suppose you were a patriotic German in the 1930’s. You said things like “Give him a chance.” or “We need to work together.” or “He is just a fluke.” or “At least we didn’t elect that lying Hillary.” (Well, not that last one but you get the idea.)

Then before your very eyes, people were being forced to wear a Star of David on their clothes. Pink triangles began to appear. The Brown Shirts marched.

And the  “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” – the National Socialist German Worker’s Party began to invade other countries hell bent to execute the idea of Lebensraum in order to expand over all of Europe.

Today makes me think of the time that Hitler came to power and if you don’t accept  the possibility that with this President fascism can take our democracy over then START BELIEVING!

 

I Am the Woman With the Hemorrhage: Identifying With Biblical Healing Stories

July 26, 2017

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Michelle L. Torigian

medcOn June 29, 2017, I stood on the lawn of the US Capitol and spoke for approximately 15 minutes as part of a 24-hour interfaith vigil for healthcare.  Below are my remarks.

*****

I am the New Testament woman with the hemorrhage.

Over 13 years ago, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a health issue of migrating tissue, imbalances of hormones, and pain.  While I dealt with pain for years prior to my diagnosis in 2003, much of the time I’ve dealt with the issue the best I can since sometimes it’s just an hour or two of rough pain with mild to moderate pain on and off during the other hours of the day.

But occasionally, the health issue will flare up like it did earlier this year.  I’ll try various methods to try to control it.  Physicians will say to me: Let’s try this pill.  How…

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A “Repeat Day” Prayer

June 4, 2017

warrenturner Uncategorized Leave a comment

So very insightful and poignant

Michelle L. Torigian

fractal-1128622_960_720God of all eras and places,
Of all dittos, agains, redoes, duplicates, and echoes,
We want to celebrate the best of times over and over.

From the richest pieces of chocolate cake,
To the extravagant vacations we’ve been on,
And from the times we’ve fallen in love or to the liveliest parties we’ve attended,
We want to relive the greatest moments of our lives.

Sadly, those moments are often once in a lifetime-
Encapsulated within a fleeting moment.

On the other side of the coin are the moments which we hope to forget…
The breakups in which our hearts feel like they will collapse,
Or the illnesses that take days or months or years to subside.  Maybe.
Or the acts of violence that plague our world again.  And again.
And again.

We hope those never happen once.
But they often reoccur.

Another surgery.  Another funeral.

The news reports one more bombing across the…

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