Gratitude Blessing*
Spirit of Generosity,
we come to you with hearts
overflowing with gratitude
for your abundant creation.
As we awaken each morning,
help us to remember
this day is a gift,
this breath is grace,
this life a wonder.
Remind us
with every flower we see,
every act of kindness,
every moment of connection
to something so much bigger
than ourselves,
to whisper thank you.
Cultivate in us a sense of awe
and trust in your lavish grace.
Let each word of thanks
we offer expand our hearts
until delight inhabits us
and we know love
as our sustenance.
Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
The 5th century monk and mystic Benedict of Nursia counsels in his Rule for monastic life an attitude of contentment among his community. Whatever the circumstances they find themselves in, they are to find some satisfaction with what is in the moment. In a world of self-entitlement and inflated sense of need, learning to be content with what we have has the potential to be quite revolutionary. It means craving less and being more satisfied with what one has.
One way to encourage this posture of contentment in our lives is gratitude. Gratitude is a way of being in the world that does not assume we are owed anything, and the fact that we have something at all, whether our lives, our breath, families, friends, shelter, laughter, or other simple pleasures, are all causes for celebration. We can cultivate a way of being in the world that treats all these things as gifts, knowing none of us “deserves” particular graces.
We might begin each day simply with an expression of gratitude for the most basic of gifts, life itself. Awakening each morning for another day to live and love, grateful for our breath and a body that allows us to move through our day. Then we can offer gratitude for a home and all the things that are important to us about this place of shelter.
Environmental activist and author Joanna Macy describes gratitude as a revolutionary act “because it counters the thrust of the industrial growth society, or the consumer society, which breeds dissatisfaction. You have to make people dissatisfied with what they have and who they are in order that they keep buying.” Gratitude is a way for us to cultivate a healthy asceticism and reject consumerism.
Gratitude is a practice that can begin with the smallest acknowledgement and be expanded out to every facet of our existence. A simple way to nurture this awareness in our lives is to end each day with a gratitude list. You might write 5-10 things for which you feel grateful each day, lifting up both the large and small moments of grace. It is a way to end the day by honoring the gifts we have received rather than dwelling on where life came up short for us.
Consider saving these grateful noticings together somewhere, and after a season of time reading back over the things that made your heart expand and notice what patterns you find there.
Gratitude has a way of transforming our approach to life into one that is more open-hearted, generous, and joyful. Rather than moving through our day feeling cynical or burdened, we can consciously choose our thoughts.
This doesn’t mean that we have to offer gratitude for injustices or abuse, we are always called to resist those. But it does mean we might be able to tap into greater joy to replenish us for those moments when we do need to fight for dignity and kindness. Gratitude overflows into joy and makes us feel connected to something bigger than ourselves.
Gratitude is a powerful practice intimately connected to a spirituality of blessing. My heart overflows with gratitude for this beautiful community we have created together. I delight daily in knowing there are dancing monks all over the world.
Join us for the season of Advent when we will explore what it means to live a life of blessing and gratitude. I will be joined by many wonderful guest teachers to offer daily practices rooted in wonder.
Today we release the final installment of our video podcast for The Love of Thousands Prayer Cycle. Day 7 morning prayer takes the theme of Ancestral Earth & Deep Time and evening prayer is The Love of Thousands. I’d like to thank my longtime friends and teaching partners Simon de Voil for his voice work and audio magic, and Betsey Beckman for compiling and producing the video podcasts. Special thanks to all of the artists, musicians, and contemplatives who contributed to this prayer cycle.The following prayer of concern was written by my Lift Every Voice Book Club conversation partner Claudia Love Mair.
God in and of All, a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay says, “I can push the grass apart, and lay my finger on thy heart.” How beautiful it is to find you both in the dark earth, and in the dark matter of the universe. How excellent to know that you are in all things, and I am in you. I praise you for your magnificence, on earth and in the heavens.
The prayer cycle is a free offering. It takes a good deal of resources to produce as we believe in paying a living wage to the artists who make the prayer cycle spirit-filled and engaging. If you have the means to do so, we gratefully accept donations to support the prayer cycle.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
*Blessing written by Christine for a book of blessings (due to be published in spring 2026)
