Warning: Undefined array key "insert" in /sites/dev.grateful.org/files/wp-content/plugins/wp-word-count/public/class-wpwc-public.php on line 123
+ Dear Friends,
Once again, the time of year has come around, when the different spiritual traditions celebrate Festivals of Light. In the northern hemisphere, where the days are short and dark now, the rising light at the winter solstice gives us new hope. But anywhere in the world, “Light in darkness” is a theme worthy of celebration. It is above all the IN of “Light IN darkness” that the initiated celebrate as the great mystery of Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, and other Festivals of Light. For eyes attuned to wonderment, it is a marvelous delight to see light shining into the darkness. Light shining in the darkness is an even greater joy, but only the eyes of our heart can see that marvel.
Just as you let yourself sink down into basking-in-the-light, let yourself now sink down into basking-in-the-darkness. It takes a bit of courage, but i think you’ll be able to do it.
What does all this mean? Only if we experience it, will we know. And how can we experience it? Only if we get very quiet and attentive. An early nightfall in winter is a time that lends itself to such watchful inner silence – a moment in time, when “the veil between the two worlds is very thin,” as the Celtic tradition puts it. Maybe you have lit a candle and are basking now in its warm glow. Enjoy that feeling; let yourself sink down into it; rest in it for as long as you feel cradled in it. When thoughts arise, turn them towards the moment, a little while ago, when you were striking a match to light this candle. Bring your remembering of that moment gently down from your head into your heart. With the heart, rather than the head, be aware, at one and the same time, of the candle’s steady light and of the moment when the flaring-up match brought that light into the dark room. Don’t force anything. Just gaze with your heart until you are aware both of the candle light and of the moment, when the match brought that light out of the darkness. Keep holding all three in quiet awareness: the light, the flash of the match, and the darkness before that. Then, slowly, try this: Just as you let yourself sink down into basking-in-the-light, let yourself now sink down into basking-in-the-darkness. It takes a bit of courage, but i think you’ll be able to do it.
Once you have experienced simultaneous awareness of light and its arising out of darkness, you have caught a glimpse of The Mystery of Origination. You will be able to find that mystery again and again, whenever you look with the same trustful attention of your heart’s eyes at other things. When you are looking at the face of a daisy, the eyes of a cat, or the loving glance of a friend’s eyes, it is almost as easy as it was when looking at the candle to let yourself down so deeply into what you see that you become aware of the womb of darkness from which it is being born. Once you train yourself to this kind of looking with the eyes of your heart, it will work not only with these easy examples, but with anything whatsoever.
With a new courage and with new creativity, you will strike match after match to light up the world…
Maybe you have lit a candle and are basking now in its warm glow.
Yes, once you have been simultaneously aware of light and darkness and know from experience that you can entrust yourself to what Dylan Thomas calls “the close and holy darkness,” the dark womb of light, you will look with new eyes also at all that is dark around you. With a new courage and with new creativity, you will strike match after match to light up the world, but you will not fear the darkness, because you will recognize it as the not yet light.
This awareness, this courage, and this creative determination is what i most wish for you and for me and for all of us at this season and throughout 2019,
Your brother David
Br. David Steindl-Rast
Dear Brother David,
Your writings have been a source of constant inspiration for me since I first discovered them about 4 years ago. Your wisdom of putting love into action through gratefulness has resonated deeply within me and since become a core covenant for my life. Words are completely inadequate to express my gratitude to you .I hope I have the opportunity one day to meet you in person either in the US or in Germany.
May blessings of health and joy shower upon you ! Herzliche Grüße, Elisabeth
Dear Brother David,
It’s been in 1994 when I was blessed to see you here in Germany. Your words “,that the opposite of fear is not security, but trust” have accompanied me ever since. Thank you from my heart ! Alles Gute und Gottes Segen ! Sylvie
Dear Brother David,
You have been light in my life since 1981 when I had you as a professor at Seattle University. I have passed on your messages of Gratefulness to many and also introduced many to this website. Thank you for your continued wisdom that inspires so many of us with Gratefulness. With Love and Gratitude, Jeannette SP
Dear Brother David,
I have long wanted to thank you for the gift you have been in my life. I have written poems based on your words, and my students–even those who consider themselves atheists have written essays meditating on your books. I’m grateful for each day we share time on this planet.
With such gratefulness,
Kim
Thank you Brother David for it all….the love, the teachings, the wisdom and the peace that I feel when I read your words. Today I wept as I lit a candle for a loved one that is struggling……they were tears of gratitude for you and this community. I am grateful for the gift of this life…blessings and love always
Thank you Brother David for sharing, and having me think throughout the day on so many ways to be grateful. I will always have gratitude for you.
Many blessings to you.
Tiny seed stirring
Veil of all possibility
The light of your heart
miguelie
Dear Brother David, on this longest night looking back on 2018 and your work, the Principle of Subsidiarity that you presented to Pope Francis as a key to unity is truly light in darkness.
“Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.” Psalm 139:12
Heart to heart throughout 2019!
Cora ⚘
Brother David ~ Your words and inspiration have affected the lives of so many throughout the world. From the first time I saw “A Good Day” to today, I appreciate the enthusiasm you share and the motivation you provide for those who choose to embrace gratefulness in our lives.
Dear Brother David, from the depths of my heart I thank you for your work, which is love made visible — the difference that it is making in my life and also in so many others. Truly, I treasure this interfaith reflection you offer and I will practice what you have shared in hopes that it will become a way of being in the world, moment to moment. I hold out my heart-light to you in greeting. Yours, Cynthia
Dear Brother David,
I am so grateful you share these beautiful reflections, we had a winter solstice yoga and meditation practice last night the echoed these thoughts and themes. God bless you with all the joys of this blessed season. Kevin
Dear Br. David, I am sitting here with tears in my eyes after reading your beautiful reflection! Thank-you for sharing from your heart and touching mine in such a deep way. My life has been changed profoundly by your teachings and this site. I thank-you from the deepest place in my heart. God bless you, dear Br. David.
Peace and love, Sheila?
Dear Brother David,
You are such a light and inspiration to all of us.! I am deeply grateful for all the thoughts you have shared over so many years. You have changed how I greet and live every day.
May you be abundantly blessed in all aspects of life. I so hope I will have the good fortune to meet you in the near future.
Keep writing! I bow to you in the deep respect and admiration, Elisabeth
“Even in the depths of darkness there is ample light.”
“Darkness is the source of all light.”
Dr. Stylianos Atteshlis ( DASKALOS )