Newsletter from Gratefulness.org

Dear Ron Alexander,
“Desire change. Be enthusiastic for that flame in which a thing escapes your grasp while it makes a glorious display of transformation.” Read, and listen to, Rilke’s words in this beautiful translation by Br. David, inspiring us to act on behalf of making the world a better place:

SONNETS TO ORPHEUS: II, 12 (stanza 1)

Love begs us to act, and is a powerful agent of transformation, as demonstrated in the films that were featured during this summer’s Esalen film workshop with Dr. Francis Lu and Br. David. If you “love” referrals to great films, this is a list for you:

Love in Film: Relationships for Life

“Where love is genuine, belonging is always mutual,” writes Br. David. When we open all of our senses to the gifts of the present moment, our experience of belonging blooms. And belonging begets responsibility not only to our own wellbeing, but to others as well. “We tend to overlook the close connection between responsiveness and responsibility, between sensuousness and social challenge,” Br. David goes on to say in

Encounter with God Through the Senses.

Even when it seems we can do very little to help, there is always something that can be done. Read about positive changes occurring when authentic conversations unfold between people; in the prisons, on athletic fields, and for teens in regions of conflict, in this month’s inspiring

Grateful News.

If you desire change, and you want to be an agent of transformation in your own life and in the world around you, stop to notice the gifts that each moment is offering to you, then DO something with that opportunity. This is the wisdom that Br. David and Jack Kornfield share in their conversation about grateful living in action, beautifully captured here on DVD:

The Practice of Grateful Living DVD.