Website of the Week
June 22nd: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - the First Sunday after Trinity
A Grateful Day
Brother David Steindl-Rast
“It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy. Every moment is a gift. … Whatever life gives to you, you can respond with joy. Joy is the happiness that does not depend on what happens. It is the grateful response to the opportunity that life offers you at this moment.”
A Benedictine monk for over 70 years, now approaching his 99th birthday, Brother David Steindl-Rast was formed by 20th-century catastrophes. Privations he experienced in youth during the Second World War were magnified by the tensions of being one-fourth Jewish.
He is known the world over for his enduring message about gratefulness as the true source of lasting happiness. He has been a source of inspiration and spiritual friendship to leaders and luminaries around the world including Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton, and more. He has been one of the most important figures in the modern interfaith dialogue movement, and has taught with thought-leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Jack Kornfield, and Roshi Joan Halifax. His wisdom has been featured in recent interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Krista Tippett, and Tami Simon and his TED talk has been viewed almost 10,000,000 times.
In 2000, he co-founded A Network for Grateful Living, an organisation dedicated to gratefulness as a transformative influence for individuals and society. The organisation offers practices and resources for those seeking a more awake, joyful, and meaning-filled life.
For a brief (five minute) introduction to Brother David's philosophy about gratitude, click on the image.
A Benedictine monk for over 70 years, now approaching his 99th birthday, Brother David Steindl-Rast was formed by 20th-century catastrophes. Privations he experienced in youth during the Second World War were magnified by the tensions of being one-fourth Jewish.
He is known the world over for his enduring message about gratefulness as the true source of lasting happiness. He has been a source of inspiration and spiritual friendship to leaders and luminaries around the world including Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton, and more. He has been one of the most important figures in the modern interfaith dialogue movement, and has taught with thought-leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Jack Kornfield, and Roshi Joan Halifax. His wisdom has been featured in recent interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Krista Tippett, and Tami Simon and his TED talk has been viewed almost 10,000,000 times.
In 2000, he co-founded A Network for Grateful Living, an organisation dedicated to gratefulness as a transformative influence for individuals and society. The organisation offers practices and resources for those seeking a more awake, joyful, and meaning-filled life.
For a brief (five minute) introduction to Brother David's philosophy about gratitude, click on the image.