Have you visited our forums lately?  Read, contribute, or start a thread of your own.

Our March newsletter looks at traditional blessings, wishes for sunshine, friends, a sweet song, laughter, and more.

Sylvia Boorstein's multifaceted online retreat, "Lovingkindness," begins March 15th.

May you always walk in sunshine...and may you find just the right St. Patrick's Day ecard!

A new donation thank-you gift, Annette Cantor's Songs of the Earth CD, contains her water blessing (mp3; 8 MB) and six more soul-stirring songs.

Need a laugh?  "Rachmaninov Had Big Hands" offers a fresh perspective on perceived handicaps (scroll down to "New!").

Cozy up with friends and a movie theme:  Healing, Families, Social Justice, Wisdom and Compassion.

Join our hundreds of Facebook fans!

Refresh your relationship with time:  Our popular "Living the Hours" e-retreat is available on demand.

Br. David reads Billy Collins' humorous "Introduction to Poetry" (scroll down to "New!").

"The gift of life which is only such if lived in communion with others," writes Fr. Raimundo Panikkar in his farewell letter.

Want more depth?  Check out the gratitude research section newly added to our Gratefulness books.

For a living example of gratefulness, often we need look no further than our companion animals.

You are warmly invited to these events with Br. David (scroll down).

February's Gratefulnews shows how expansive people's hearts can be.

Dankbarkeit.org, our German site, now includes six features!  

February's newsletter looks at the flip side of giving in gratefulness.

There's still time to sign up for the Lenten e-course which began on Ash Wednesday, February 17th.

We have made it easier for you to search for your favorite wordless ecards by adding captions.

We need nothing more urgently than the superfluous, writes Br. David in the final section of "Thomas Merton:  Now at the Crack of Dawn."

Chocolate championed by Quakers; skyscrapers built in the 16th century; Cystic Fibrosis treated by surfing:  Look for unexpected connections in January's Gratefulnews.

Enjoy a sneak preview of video footage from "Spiritual Practices for Everyday Living," a 2009 retreat given by Br. David Steindl-Rast in Adelaide, Australia (more segments soon).

Odd to combine grief and gratefulness in a retreat session, thought Susan Mazrolle, hardly expecting that on the very night the retreat ended, her heart would face its greatest challenge.

Light a Candle for earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Join the InterSpiritual Wisdom e-course that begins January 31st!

Our friend Annette Cantor has graciously donated the healing gift of her voice in this water blessing song (mp3; 8 MB), now added to our Caring for Earth topic.

Imagine a classroom in which the teacher believes that his job is to teach empathy, showing how precious life is.  (Scroll down to Children Full of Life in our "Children and Elders" links.)

January's newsletter suggests that our quest for renewal might involve some improbable connections.

As we enter 2010, let us be the first to bring you glad tidings, through Mr. Moses.

Send a New Year's ecard!

If you have ever tried to sift out what is essential in life, you will appreciate Part II of "Thomas Merton: Now at the Crack of Dawn."

 Let this decade go on a grateful note:  Scroll down to the Charter of Compassion and All You Need Is Love (sung by musicians from 156 countries!) under "Links" on this page.

  From a refugee building his community's first high school to a professional violinist playing for homeless audiences, December's Gratefulnews is sure to brighten your holidays.

  Stephen Hough's blog considers the sentiments in "A Good Day" and wonders whether our culture tends to bury everything tender with our ingrained habit of scoffing.

Fra Giovanni Giocondo's Christmas Eve letter has endured for centuries, reminding us that there's "radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see."

Need holiday gift ideas?  Visit our Gift Shop, give a contribution in a loved one's honor, or use our Amazon.com portal.

December's newsletter asks, "Do you have a rose that blooms in the dead of winter?"

In honor of Thomas Merton at the 41st anniversary of his death on December 10th, we offer the first in a three-part series:  "Now at the Crack of Dawn."

How moved we are by the online tributes left by people like you who support our work!

Helen Siegl's mosaic of Advent images conveys peace and corresponds with ecards in our seasonal collection.

How do people make "a different kind of holiday"?  Did the fall of the Berlin Wall "just happen" to be peaceful?  Can theater help defeat fundamentalism?  Explore this month's Gratefulnews....

"In the Press":  Br. David Steindl-Rast's contemplative videos and April 2010 plenary presentation for "Gratefulness: The Heart of Spiritual Care."

Imagine giving thanks for four solid days!

At this season, "may we gracefully rise to the occasion of our own falling," writes Br. David in this Thanksgiving Song.

Our Sister Site, Spirituality and Practice, is offering two new 40-day e-courses based on the writings of Joyce Rupp and Thich Nhat Hanh.

Need a lift?  Check out October's Gratefulnews:  a hunger to learn; a unique approach to theft; a leaping wolf; a zero-waste strategy; and a son repeating his father's heroism.

The approach of Halloween – a holiday recognized by many cultures as a holy day and a remarkable "thinning" between worlds – evokes both playful and serious feelings.

Choose from many Halloween and other seasonal ecards as well as our wider selection.

Mary Lou Worster Anderson asked for "a used computer airlifted into my apartment by a giant stork," and look what happened.

The world overflows with creative intentions that become beneficial actions.  Our October newsletter gives you some examples.

One woman's quest for peace, recorded on video, takes her around the world bringing peace and understanding through the arts.  (Scroll down to "Links" on this page.)

Flood-relief efforts in the Philippines, the eco-rebuilding of Greensburg, great hardship turned into kinship, and both trash and treasure make up this month's Gratefulnews.

Our Simple Living resources now include a video by Joanna Macy about Gratitude as a Revolutionary Act.  (Scroll down to "Offsite Links.")

  A perennial dilemma:  How can anyone *say* how to get beyond language?

Ani Pema Chödrön brings practical compassion into focus through her sparkling example and writings.

Our seasonal ecards include blessings for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and the autumn and spring equinox.

Ever feel like your gratefulness engine is sputtering?

Join us for Living the Hours, a six-week online retreat marking nuances of dawn, day, dusk, and dark with prayer.  

September's newsletter offers a glimpse of our unity of spirit as a worldwide community practicing grateful living.

Gratefulnews goes from far reaches of the Milky Way to a single molecule's stunning image.

Send an ecard blessing for the month-long Islamic observance of Ramadan.

This documentary film introduces you to the life of Br. David Steindl-Rast through interview footage and rare archival photos.

Did you know that we offer volunteer opportunities?

Thank you for your lighting the world with your candles, now well over 8,000,000!

Refresh your spirits with our August newsletter.

 "Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams."  Can you name the source of this memorable quote?  If so, you will know this month's Gift Person.

If it is hard to imagine benefiting from jellyfish, sledding down barn-size drifts of dust, or "daylighting" a stream, read about this and more in Gratefulnews.

It is a blessing when someone can help you feel your own way through what only your heart can process.  Paul Bennett's Loving Grief and Elaine Mansfield's reflections offer this blessing.

Joyce Holmes McAllister's poem reminds us that in tough times, our ancestors' voices – and the memory of their actions, speaking louder than words – bring us wisdom.

Isn't the practice of grateful living about shifting our respective and ultimately our collective worldviews and then our world visions? 

In the "almost limitless number of good companions found along the way," a few stand out, and Thomas Berry was one of them.

What do a writer in Kyoto, gardens in Russia, a Muslim feminist in West Virginia, a promise in the Maldives, and Wynton Marsalis on the hardcourt have in common?  Gratefulnews!

Every human being can experience true belonging, Br. David affirms in this interview on the "Way of Love."

Blessed Mother Teresa – esteemed not only for her service to the unwanted, the homeless, and the dying but also for her perseverance amidst inner torment – is this month's Gift Person.

You benefit from a fabulous four-billion-year-old legacy bequeathed by the earth.  How does a grateful response to this gift look?  Explore Caring for the Earth and the new "Home Project" video (scroll down to "Links").

 Br. David writes about a vision for the future.

June's newsletter looks at one of the paradoxes of gratefulness:  It comes to us as pure gift and even so it must be cultivated.

Alice Walker writes, "It no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing them all."  Enjoy our Father's Day (and Solstice and Graduation!) ecards. 

This month's Gratefulnews celebrates the people working to restore Earth's well-being through art, creative housing initiatives, education, poetry, shared gardens, and much more.

Honor your favorite graduate with an e-card. 

Br. David Steindl-Rast and Fr. Cyprian Consiglio will offer a retreat – "Spirit, Soul, Mind and Body: The Universal Call to Contemplation" – in Boulder, CO, June 27-28, 2009. 

"Practicing Spirituality with Quakers," a 40-day e-course that starts June 1st, looks at how to live simply and create a more just world (scroll down to "Links").

Explore the dimensions of grateful living through this new audio download of radio host Michael Stone in conversation with Br. David Steindl-Rast.

Have you ever felt so stressed out that conjuring feelings of gratitude seemed ridiculous, perhaps even a little infuriating?  Michele Wahlder writes about common obstacles to gratefulness.

Richard Schiffman's study in perspective, "Watching the Birdwatcher," captures the space between moments by the reverse feat of not trying to grasp it. 

Br. David talks about peak experiences and more on this new video clip from "The Monk and the Rabbi."

Br. David's May-June Australia tour includes Brisbane, Rockhampton, Mackay, Maitland/Newcastle, Sydney, Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Perth.

May's newsletter gives us an opportunity once again to thank you for your generous support as we bring practices of grateful living to people around the world.

This month's Gratefulnews comes in all varieties: a lost Aboriginal language revived, music notation made accessible, friendship enhancing health, and hardhats going green.

Send a Mother's Day ecard to someone nurturing in your life or (in keeping with the day's origins) someone who works for peace.  If your mother has passed on, light a candle in her memory.

Maria DeCarvalho writes about a fortune cookie and a "secret decoder ring" that revealed its hidden truth.

Please let your friends in far-away places know that A Good Day can now be viewed with multilingual captions (click up-arrow on video screen). 

Send an Earth Day ecard, and gather fresh inspiration through our Caring for the Earth and Simple Living topics.

What does it take to entrust ourselves to a "fundamental sense of belonging to the universe"?

April's newsletter observes that we never know where a day may lead us.

"When we accept the pain and intensity that comes to us, what could have been unbearable opens us into new dimensions," write Felicia Norton and Charles Smith in this second excerpt from An Emerald Earth.

Light a Candle for the people of the earthquake-ravaged Abruzzo region of Italy.

Isn't a love that "none can part" what we long for most?  How rare to be given – through this poem by George Herbert – the words to articulate it and the strength that makes it possible.

Send joy to your loved ones with Passover and Easter e-cards. For your convenience, you can schedule cards in advance.

When we urgently need to be called back to the foundation of our life, our dreams often help.

The things we tend to overlook can be our greatest sources of treasure, as this month's Gratefulnews shows.

Thanks to generously donated artwork by Carol Giantonio, we now have in our Gift Shop a dynamic, 160-page gratitude journal awaiting your creative inspiration.

We need not only a new ethic for developed nations; we need an ethic that can be shared by traditional cultures. 

Did you ever think of "salvation" as meaning "healing"?  It derives from the same root as "salve", writes Br. David.

Our March newsletter asks where we will find the strength for the "stride of soul" life requires.

Now and then we get asked for a little history of our work.

Jan 30 - Apr 3,  A Season for Nonviolence — A grassroots movement that brings to life the spirit and practice of nonviolence as a powerful means to heal, transform and empower individuals and communities. more »

Mar 14,  Birthday of Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955) — German-born American theoretical physicist, Princeton professor, and pacifist, awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his study of the photoelectric effect. His theory of relativity revolutionized modern thought.

Mar 16,  Anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death (1979 - 2003) — American peace activist of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who was fatally injured while protesting peacefully in the Gaza Strip. Corrie invested her humanity in nonviolent action, inspiring us to bring peace to a world fractured by tensions. more »

Mar 17,  Feast of St. Patrick (c.389 - c. 461) — Welsh-born patron saint of Ireland. Sold into slavery as a teenager, St. Patrick turned to religion for solace and later established monasteries, schools, and churches in Ireland, using the three-leaf shamrock to help explain the Trinity. more »

I needed a place to meditate and to send all my love, among other things. A friend told me about gratefulness.org and I am so happy now: this place is exactly what I've been looking for. Thank you so much ♥♥♥.  — Nany, United States

A great a place where those of any religion can come and just take a moment to reflect on how grateful we should be.  — Tamara Williams, Charlotte, North Carolina

Ich bin begeistert, dass es eine solche Seite im Internet gibt. Sie führt uns Menschen enger zusammen (I am thrilled that such a page is on the Internet. It leads people closer together).  — Elisabeth, Urbar

Es la pagina mas espiritual que he visitado. Produce tranquilidad para mi espiritu (This is the most spiritual site I have visited. It produces calm to my spirit).  — Claudia, Colombia

I love your labyrinth and plan to walk it as part of my daily meditation. I'm grateful to you for the gratefulness site!  — Tina Cooney, NJ

Ich bin begeistert, dass es eine solche Seite im Internet gibt. Sie führt uns Menschen enger zusammen. Das Licht gibt uns Kraft und lässt unsere Hoffnung nie schwinden (I am thrilled that such a page is on the Internet. It leads people closer together. The light gives us strength and our hope can never disappear).  — Elisabeth, Urbar, Germany

It gave me a wonderful insight into just how many people in the world can open their hearts to thousands of others. I enjoyed my time with you all.  — Gil Frederick, Winnipeg, Canada

Gracias por traer un oasis de bendicion, Dios bendiga a quien tuvo tan maravillosa idea (Thank you for bringing an oasis of blessing, God bless who had such a wonderful idea).  — N, San José, Costa Rica

J'ai ressenti une lumière intérieure incomparable à rien d'autre que j'ai pu vivre en allant sur un site Internet (I felt an inner light incomparable to anything else I could feel on the Internet).  — Katia Bellisle, Lac Brome, Quebec, CA

This is a gorgeous, gracious and inspiring site -- a gift and a joyful discovery for any who wander or are led here. I love the feeling here, and that even just this morning, so many people from diverse regions of the world have journeyed here and found peacefulness, gratitude and community. Thank you!  — G. Brenner, California

Thank you for showing me how to make a negative into a positive. I love this Beautiful, Positive, and Grateful site.  — Cindy P., Uxbridge, On. Canada

What a warm and heart felt way to show the world you care. The five steps and lighting of a candle opens the spirit to positive energy. Thank you for this thoughtful exercise of body, mind and spirit.  — Vera R Gary, Norfolk, Va

Très inspirant. Un apaisement immédiat (Very inspiring. An immediate relief). I never found a site where the ambiance is like a church or a temple.  — STVM, Morocco

Thank you for giving space for people to pray/light a candle for those in need. It is helping us connect with suffering peoples around the world. More blessings!  — Maria Helen, DC, Philippines

I have always loved labyrinth walking to clear the mind and refresh the soul; this one went very far in fulfilling these need for me. I'm definitely going to bookmark this page. Thanks.  — Margaret, New Jersey

namastei! maravillosos ya que te da lugar a orar y sentir la magia de estar saane ando los problemas individuales a nivel planetario tambien (namaste! wonderful and leads you to pray and feel the magic of remediating problems with individuals and on a global level also).  — elisas, argentina e rios

I love the candles. I needed a time each day to meditate on my illness and others who suffer. It is really special and beautifully done. You somehow put healing in virtual reality.  — mh, san diego area

This is the most peaceful, well done site that I know of!! I love u all for giving me this for my quiet space, and words of wisdom!!  — Susie Lyn Tucker, Missouri

I love this site. Very nice what you are doing and blessings! GOD love you!  — Amaryllis, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles

Estoy muy agradecida por la oportunidad de ser parte de Gratefulness.org. Me siento muy conectada con todos Uds. Me dan ánimo e inspiración (I am very grateful for the opportunity to be part of Gratefulness.org. I feel very connected with all of you. You give me courage and inspiration).  — Patricia, Arequipa, Peru