Br. David Steindl-Rast's "Contemplative Community" essay is now available in Chinese, thanks to translator Rosa Pang.

It's reinvigorating to notice the gifts right under your nose.

This month's GratefulNews explores breaks with tradition.

Honor your favorite graduate with an ecard.

Check out these seven services that help shrink your carbon footprint, lighten your economic load, and release you from some of the shackles of excess stuff.

In the final part of her series on Gratitude in Education, Kerry Howells notes the need for a healthy flow of giving and receiving amongst all parties in the learning process.

Billy Collins' poem about giving his mother a handmade lanyard reveals an abyss and suggests a tenderness that fills it.

What can you do when you feel spread thin by caring for too many people?

April's newsletter reminds us to "mend the part of the world that is within our reach," as Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés eloquently puts it.

Individuality, continuing community, photo albums, and compost are just a few of the blessings on this new page of submissions to our 100th Blessing contest.

Freshly reminded of the senselessness of violence by the bombings in Boston, we light candles in dedication to peace.

James Baraz and Shoshana Alexander write that when we get lost in fantasies of “my life could (or should) be better,” we’re missing the only life we actually have.

We invite you to visit our updated Grief and Joy resources. Descriptions of each offering help you find your way to the ones right for you.  You may want to start with the introduction.

Need a dose of wisdom?  We have added several new lectures to Br. David's audio archives.

April's GratefulNews looks at opportunities amidst challenges:  how to restore Harlem's Dance Theater, increase empathy, defuse conflict, provide vital medicine, and more.

Br. David Steindl-Rast's essay "Shared Spirituality" is now available in Chinese as 靈修共享, thanks to the work of our esteemed translator Rosa Pang.

Congratulations to our 12 blessings contest winners, and thanks to all who took time to participate!

Br. David will offer a talk on June 14th in Edinburgh, Scotland at TEDGlobal2013, which brings together people who stir us to think again.

Not until students settle into a safe haven can they be present enough to learn, writes Kerry Howells in Part 3 of her series about gratitude in education.

Thinking of starting a Grateful Living Group in your community?  Please make free use of these updated resources.

Br. David Steindl-Rast, Dr. Christina Puchalski, Dr. Larry Dossey, and more distinguished guest writers share perspectives on the role of spirituality during illness.

Mary of Magdala:  "Since when were senses anything more than extravagant hints to pierce the heart?"

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

Download Brother David's talks and lectures from his new Audio Library.

“Gratitude is the golden hinge on which the gate of contented sobriety swings,” according to an Alcoholics Anonymous old-timer.

The preview issue of Contemplative Journal offers a video series with five eminent teachers exploring the role of compassion in humanity's future.

Br. David's 2013 summer events now include "Interactive Mindfulness" with Anthony Chavez at Esalen Institute, July 5-7.

Ever feel habituated to a fast pace?

The Mindfulness Bell is back!

Recent papal news brought to mind Pope John XXIII's ten simple rules for daily living.

Br. David retells "Two Old Men," a folktale by Leo Tolstoy, leaving us to ponder who reached the pilgrimage's goal.

Imagine single-handedly converting a sandbar into a 1,360-acre forest!  This story and more inspiration fill our March Gratefulnews.

If healing and trust are on your mind, you may find solace in two videos newly added to our Belonging topic.

In honor of the great gift of water, we offer this traditional Irish rain blessing.

"If we were to meet gratitude face to face she would say 'take action that serves others...clear the air, and connect,'" writes educator Kerry Howells. 

What few of us get to witness in the wild -- the extraordinary colors, dances, and sounds of birds-of-paradise -- Cornell's Lab of Ornithology has given us online.

Die Selbstverständlichkeit und Einfachheit dieser Übung sind ein grosser Vorteil.  (View in English - our thanks to Eve Landis for the German translation.)

Do you have friends who would enjoy our Chinese website?  Newly added, thanks to translator Rosa Pang:  Thanksgiving Song (also in German and English).

Thank you for the great light you bring to the world, represented here by passing the milestone of 15,000,000 candles.

The very act of appreciating someone or something instantly calls forth joy.

How do you shape a spiritual practice?  Br. David Steindl-Rast offers his perspectives in parts 5 and 6 of his videotaped Spiritual Biography.

As Jessica Cox's story shows, we are capable of much more than we ordinarily believe.

This index of practice resources is designed to help you go deeper into the rich benefits of grateful living.

Br. David explores the natural simplicity of grateful-living practice.

In the first part of a series on gratitude in education, Kerry Howells looks at powerful strategies to keep students engaged.

This month's Gratefulnews takes us behind the scenes:  in lasting relationships, in the Chinese New Year, in the story of a peace ambassador, and more.

We would love to see you at George Washington University's 5th Annual Spirituality and Health Summer Institute – GWish – in Washington, DC, July 10-13.

Here's a growing list of videos showing why people give to A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L).

Puzzled by how best to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day? Send your love through a free e-card or visit our online store.

Lia Gimanis speaks about The Surprising Power of Gratitude, which literally saved her life as a homeless person.

Join our 99 Blessings Contest!

Thank you from all our hearts to our 2012 supporters, who help bring to this world a spirit of grateful cooperation and peace.

Our friend Mirabai Chrin of Hearty Apple Signs and Designs generously provided a set of five new calligraphied e-cards for our collection.

Now available on-demand:  our much-requested "Awakening to Gratefulness" e-course.

February's newsletter revels in life's continual shower of blessings.

Want help applying gratefulness to your life and your broader concerns about the world?  Here is a step-by-step guide.

This poem has a biting honesty, characteristic of Shakespeare. It won't let us explain away our icy ingratitude or our stinging disregard for friends' needs.

Our January newsletter is about setting in motion the spiral of gratefulness through sustained practice.

How does a song go from complete obscurity to a universal presence?  Check out this month's Gratefulnews for this story and much more.

What gets in the way of being grateful, and how can we overcome these obstacles?  Rabbi Shefa Gold dives deep into liturgy and life for insights.

In the Press:  Psychology and social work professor Connie Corley suggests that we skip New Year's resolutions in favor of a steadily maintained practice of gratitude.

Model Cameron Russell speaks with candor and courage about the power of body image.

Children, who throw themselves into sleep no less than waking, remind us to be keenly attentive, as Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem illustrates.

Br. David Steindl-Rast's Praying the Great Dance is now available in German: Den Grossen Tanz beten.

There's still time to sign up for "Choosing to Love"!

Need some reassurance about the weight of your responsibilities? Explore the space between givens (newly updated!).

Put together the likes of Christoph Niemann, Terry Gross, and Maurice Sendak, and you get one of the most moving revelations about loss and love imaginable.

As we enter 2013, let us be the first to bring you glad tidings, through Mr. Moses.

With a shift in viewpoint, a radical appreciation becomes available to us in any season, as this classic Buddhist text shows.

Did you know that we have pages of grateful-living resources for elders, children, teens, and youth caretakers?

Br. David's Christmas letter speaks of a child's trust.

This month's Gratefulnews is about the full potential of things and people, even when it shows in the heroism of a life cut short.

This year, A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L) reached more than 1.4 million people worldwide. Our 2012 Annual Report celebrates what you have made possible.

Our December newsletter suggests that one good word particularly fits this year's Solstice (hint: it's not the word "gratefulness", although that might fit, too!).

May 25,  Amitabha Buddha Day — Today Buddhists chant the name of Amitabha, Buddha of Infinite Light, in order to enter His pure realm. All compassionate spiritual effort orients us in this direction. We gratefully remember the love without limits which makes paradise here on earth. more »

May 25,  Birthday of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) — American Transcendentalist whose poems and essays – landmarks in American literary expression – speak of God's presence within us and throughout creation. Emerson observes: “To the illumined mind, the whole world burns and sparkles with light." more »

May 25,  Visakha Puja Day — The most important holy day of Thai Buddhists, this day commemorates the three anniversaries of Buddha’s life, which miraculously happened on the same date: his birth, his enlightenment, and his death. more »

May 24 - May 26,  Wesak Festival — Observed on the full moon of Taurus, this celebration – which traditionally honors the Buddha – offers all of us an opportunity to appreciate our relationship with the Divine.

May 26,  Trinity Sunday — The Christian liturgical year finds its climax on Trinity Sunday, in the celebration of the one God as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Far from being an esoteric doctrine, this notion of God is rooted in universal human experience. more »

May 27,  Memorial Day Observed — Today we show our gratitude for life by mourning war’s victims, both military and civilian. Their loss reminds us how terrible war is, and we pledge our lives anew to the mediation, mercy, and compassion which bring about peace.

May 27,  Birthday of Julia Ward Howe (1819 - 1910) — American writer and reformer active in the Women's Suffrage Movement. Deeply distressed by the carnage and economic devastation of the Civil War, she encouraged women to unite in quest of peaceful solutions to world conflicts. more »

May 27,  Birthday of Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964) — American ecologist and writer whose landmark book, Silent Spring (1962), raised awareness of the risks of pesticide use. The more we notice “the wonders and realities of the universe about us,” she writes, “the less taste we shall have for destruction."

May 29,  Ascension of Baha'u'llah — The Bahai Faith is rooted in the teachings of 19th century Persian prophet Baha’u’llah, who died on May 29, 1892. His timeless message of tolerance, urging unity between nations and peoples, has created a grateful and lasting religious following. more »

May 31,  Birthday of Beverly Sills (1929 - 2007) — American coloratura soprano who joined the NYC Opera in 1953 and, as its General Director in the 1980s, helped it achieve financial stability. Sills raised more than $70 million to combat birth defects and help families of special-needs children.

May 31,  Birthday of Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) — American poet, printer, newspaper editor, and Civil War nurse; called "The Great Grey Poet." His best-known collection, Leaves of Grass (1855), has timeless appeal. It celebrates the self, democracy, life and death cycles, and our universal connections.

Jun 1,  First of June — June is named after the Roman Goddess Juno, honored as the patroness of marriage and the guardian of rites of passage. This month offers us an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to our loved ones, creating security in an ever-changing world.

Thank you for this inspirational site!  — Tess, Philippines

Meu obrg a DEUS-PAI por iluminar quem criou este cantinho, estão a transformar muitas vidas (My thanks to GOD-FATHER who enlightens those who created this little corner, transforming many lives).  — Aurea FONSECA, ANGOLA

This is a beautiful site that I come to with much love and mindfulness.  — Avalon, Adelaide, South Australia

This is brilliant and quiet, Internal and external filled with the world and all it's inhabitants, it's family of man. The quotes are so thoughtful and thought-filling. Thank you. I am grateful!  — PK, Pacifica, CA. USA

Blessings to all of my family here at Gratefulness. I love joining everyone by coming and relaxing and taking that special time so needed for my soul and spirit. Am grateful for The Hours and Candles as well as readings and all, really, but do enjoy the journey with the labyrinth. Thank you!  — Carol (Catherine), Nelliston N.Y.

I've been getting the Word for the Day emails for a long time and was waiting to see what it would be for May 10th, my wedding day. It could not have been more appropriate and lovely, so I read it at our ceremony!!  — Nancy Gold, Cambridge, MA

Lovely. Its whole ambiance supports quiet prayer and the hope it involves.  — jsah, the south

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to walk a labyrinth. These labyrinths on your site are so beautiful and peaceful!  — AY, Philadelphia

Très franchement et très sincèrement je remercie les personnes qui ont créé ce site de recueillement et de prière, de partage et d émotion (Honest and sincere thanks to the people who created this site for meditation and prayer, sharing and emotion).  — dan f

You have given a wondrous gift to the planet in being here, now, sharing with all of us, assisting the healing of this planet. You are love & so are we!  — Lori Minchau, Wetaskiwin, Alberta Canada

obrigado por este site maravihoso (thank you for this marvelous site).  — teresa, portugal

Candles represent our inner spirit burning bright with love and healing. :-)  — YTW, USA