The universe is gratis. It cannot be earned. From this simple fact of experience springs grateful living, grace-filled living. Gratefulness is the heart’s full response to the gratuitousness of all that exists. And gratefulness makes us grateful in a double sense. In gratefulness we open ourselves to this gratuitous universe and so we become fully graced with it. And in doing so we learn to move gracefully with its flow, as in a universal dance.

Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness
David Steindl-Rast
.
.
.
.

David Steindl-Rast (Wikipedia, Gratefulness website)
born 1926

David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk, notable for his active participation in interfaith dialogue and his work on the interaction between spirituality and science. He meditates and writes on “the gentle power” of gratefulness.

Books written by Brother David Steindl-Rast include:

• Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness
• David Steindl-Rast: Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters)
• A Listening Heart: The Spirituality of Sacred Sensuousness
• Music of Silence: A Sacred Journey through the Hours of the Day
• The Ground We Share: Everyday Practice, Buddhist and Christian
• Belonging to the Universe: Explorations on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality

Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful
TED Talk given by David Steindl-Rast

The one thing all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. An inspiring lesson in slowing down, looking where you’re going, and above all, being grateful.