Gratefulness

In my last blog, I spoke of Brother David Steindl-Rast’s teaching on Gratefulness.

I had the deep blessing of meeting Brother David on a 2019 pilgrimage to Ireland my husband and I took with Turas D’Anam. He recently said, “There is no greater gift than a poem.”

Today’s Blog is a gift to you, a poem that came through one morning about six months ago during my morning practice of listening and receiving teaching from my Muse/Guide.

Each morning, I renew myself by intentionally, consciously, and lovingly, bringing Gratefulness into the day. Each morning, I sit with Stillness, with Silence. There, underneath the turbulence of the surface waves, I intentionally remember how blessed and privileged I am to be a human being on the planet at this time. Each morning, I bow in gratefulness for the privilege of my Work, for contributing to the lives of others. Each morning, my heart is awakened by our friendship and companionship as we “walk together on our way home.”

Gratefulness is a Prayer You Make

by Amba Gale

Gratefulness is a prayer you make,
a hymn,
a blessing,
a song within,
a thanks,
a home in which you clasp your hands with the divine.

When you come to Life with Gratefulness,
everything is a gift.
And you cannot help
but breathe clean air  
and love life with a wild and open heart.

Gratefulness is like coming into the world
with a goblet of the purest water
from the deepest well
of the deepest lake:
an offer to the world.

Even if you’re not thirsty,
you want to drink.
You want more than anything
to bring your joy,
to bring your love
to others who may weep.
Even in their weeping, there is joy, 
and your light can kindle the light
of a thousand suns.

And when you’re thirsty,
the water from that goblet
even turns the barren sand,
dry with no outward signs of life,
into green and fertile fields
of flowering plants
and trees rich with nutrients and moss.

And cooling rains come to give drink 
to the parched and sacred land.

Gratefulness guides your way to trust and faith.
And when you see the world
with eyes of ever-grateful sight,
every moment of your life is giving,
and you, yourself, are given gifts of Life from Life.

Your world expands and reaches out
beyond the land
beyond the sea
beyond the far horizon where lake meets sky.

Now, time does not exist.

I know, I know.
You question me.
Where is the gift in the wars
and the guns,
the fires and the floods?

Sometimes, I am told,
the darkest night precedes the brightest dawn.
Sometimes, you bring your gratefulness to 
a planet that is lost, a people who are lost
to fire up the sun inside the heart.

And always, 
the road of Gratefulness leads to trust,
                     to Faith, to Peace, 
where “all is well,” as the wise and mystic seer of Norwich 
said when the plague overtook her land. 

Gratefulness is a prayer of thanks and wakefulness,
giving Life to even the most humble god
who lives inside your heart.

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I invite you to bring a spirit of Gratefulness into your day (s).

If you would like to explore this principle of Gratefulness more deeply, I heartily (using that word faithfully) recommend to you Brother David’s book, “A Listening Heart,” as well as Kristi Nelson’s book, “Wake Up Grateful.” Both are beautiful and life transforming.

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If you are inspired by and/ or contributed to this post, I invite you to share it with others that you care about through email or social media.

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