To Love Is Not To Possess by James Kavanagh

“To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose oneself in another,
Love is to join & to separate,
To walk alone & together,
To find a laughing freedom
That lonely isolation does not permit.
It is finally to be able
To be who you really are,
No longer clinging in a childish dependency,
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence.
It is to be perfectly oneself
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another - and to one’s inner self”.

This beautiful extract is from James Kavannagh & was the most popular choice for a reading with my couples in 2021. Will it remain as popular in 2022?

It is a wonderful poem to have either as an extract or in full as part of a wedding ceremony.

James Kavannagh was ordained as a Catholic priest & called for reform of the church in a bestselling book published in 1967.

📸: @weddingsbybluesky