An expression of appreciation from Katherine & Peter, recently married in Sedona, AZ by Rev. Andrew Murphy, with the coordination services of Laura Marolakos...

On the first call, I spoke with Rev. Andrew Murphy directly. I immediately felt the warmth and caring in his voice. My then-fiance and I later met Rev. Murphy and event planner Laura Marolakos at their office in Sedona. In the conversations, I could sense that Andrew and Laura care about the spiritual heart of marriage. What a welcome change from all the fuss of the wedding industry! They were happy to work with our short 6-week planning timeline, suggested several beautiful outdoor spots for the ceremony, and recommended photographers. Working with Andrew and Laura was wonderful. Laura took care of so many details -- recommending and coordinating a photographer, musician, wedding colors, flowers, a hairstyle and a stylist who would come to my hotel, and restaurants for the entire wedding weekend. When I found a possible vacation rental home for the wedding weekend, she even visited it to make sure that it was a good quality place. When challenges arose, Laura handled them with kindness and grace. She's a former Hollywood event coordinator, and her class shows. Andrew offered us a 30-page packet of suggestions for our ceremony and coached us in the process of creating that ceremony. On the wedding day, I was struck by the way that his ceremony included details that were just perfect yet never asked for. Several of our guest said that the ceremony was the most heartfelt and personal one that they'd ever attended. Dr. K. Neubauer

Rev. Andrew, Thank you so much for helping David and I make a dream come true! We are so happy that you were able to officiate for us. We really enjoyed getting to know you a little better on Friday and feel like it was a perfect match! The rest of the day was just wonderful! We had a blast making a pottery keepsake together and had a lovely time celebrating with our friends and family on Sunday.We have some beautiful pictures from Janise that we will be sure to share. Thanks again, Amy and David

Another tell-tale sign of a successful relationship is that it always leads us to personal and social growth. The reason for this is that love always seeks to become more of what it is. It seeks to complete itself, to fully realize itself. Such is its nature. When held in its powerful embrace our old conditioned beliefs, habits and emotions that constrict or diminish this love become conscious. They rise to the surface and the pain and discomfort that we feel sooner or later will move us to transcend these patterns.

“Unless the branch remains connected to the vine it will wither and die.” We all know the truth of this statement. Any momentary breach in the flow of love between two people is experienced as a tiny 'death.' The good news is that these difficult experiences of separation in our relationship alert us to where we need to grow and open to the flow of love. By being fully present to these expereinces, without trying to run from them, hide them or pretend they doesn't exist, we become conscious of the harmful attitudes and beliefs within ourselves that create them. In other words, we become conscious that we are separate within ourselves and that the separation within the relationship is actually a projection of our own inner separation or brokenness. What gives us the power and wear-with-all to look at this, accept it, and move beyond it is the love itself which we feel for our partner. It's this love, which is so real and life giving, that acts as the horizon against which we can see the unreality of our old conditioned beliefs, habits and emotions and transcend them.

When held in the grip of love partners who are meant to be together find within their hearts, like never before, the desire to become the best possible person that they can be. Spontaneously, naturally they seek to deepen their cohesion. Like a tree rooted in the earth their roots penetrate ever deeper into the enriching and challenging reality of love. And the life drawn from it causes their lives to blossom, as well as the realities that impinge upon their lives. Activities in which they engage, like work, pastimes, study, purchasing a home, a car, etc., all become extensions of that love and ways to support it. Here too there is the confrontation with resistances both within themselves and outwardly that they need to overcome. But again it’s the motivating power of their love that provides the grace and grit.

A Successful Relationship

Imagine a stained glass window in your home in the early morning. Sunlight streams through spreading its rich colors across the plants, floor and furniture. As you relax and become still, you become deeply aware of the of the beauty and warmth in which you're basking. Like the light that fills the room, your feelings of love expand to touch everything around you. In a quite, peaceful manner there arises within you a feeling of gratitude for the source of this wonderful moment, the sun behind the colored glass.

A successful relationship is very similar. As the uniqueness of your partner's love is brought to light, and as you bask in its colorful and warm qualities, your heart opens. Like a flower with petals extended you instinctively turn toward him/her to receive this love. In the warm emotion that follows a sense of gratuitude arises, and consciously or unconsciously you begin to worship not just your partner, but also the Source from which this love originates. Your partner's love, in other words, leads you back to Source, to Love itself. The tell-tale sign of a succesful relationship is that it brings you home to your own Center, to the Love that you are, where there is a profound sense of peace and well-being. It's from here, deep within your own core, where you find the endless source of love to share in return.

Welcome To Creating Loving Relationships with Reverend Andrew Murphy

Hi and thank you for visiting my new blog "Creating Loving Relationships." If you're like me then one of the the most important skills in the world is learning how to create loving relationships. Years ago when I was studying philosophy in preparation to become a Jesuit catholic priest I read a book entitled The Art of Loving. Written by Erich Fromm, this book opened my eyes to my deep need for love and relationship. It gave me hope and faith in love's possibilities in my life and in the lives of others. I remember writing a term paper at the time entitled 'Relationships,' which was my first attempt to internalize the ideas of this book. The fact is no one had ever taught me how to be in relationship. Like most of us we're expected to learn as we go along. But as you know this can be both frustrating and painful. We're told that we need to learn from our mistakes, that 'life' is one long apprenticeship, and this is true. Still, if some things are not pointed out to us we can sadly go on repeating the same mistakes over and over. What I'd like to share with you are insights form my own experience, meditation, reading and from the 'wisdom' I have gleaned through conversations with couples like yourselves whom I've prepared for marriage. Also I'd like to invite you to share any helpful insights and comments that you might have. Whatever has helped to transform your life will certainly touch others as well.