Gratefulness and the Heart of Prayer

Gratefulness and the Heart of Prayer

by Brother David Steindl-Rast

Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey    © 1984    240 pp.

In his friendly, conversational style, Brother David Steindl-Rast takes everyday experiences such as surprise, restlessness, and leisure, and makes them transparent to a spiritual path.  True to his title, he demonstrates that gratefulness is the heart not only of prayer, but indeed of the entire path:  “To bless whatever there is, and for no other reason but simply because it is — that is our raison d’etre, that is what we are made for as human beings.” (p.81)  “Gratefulness says it all . . . Can the spiritual life be that simple?  Yes. . . .” (p. 83)


Simply, but profoundly, Steindl-Rast uses the remaining majority of the book to uncover the gratefulness implicit in three of the central concepts of Christianity: faith, hope, and love.  Here is an illustration from the Chapter on love:  “Contemplation in action, a way of coming to know God’s love from within by acting it out.”  (p. 179)  Those who are drawn to find the deeper meanings of words that we use perhaps too easily and unknowingly, will find this a rich book indeed.

--  reviewed by  Wesley Lachman


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