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July/August 2007 Spirituality
Spreading the Word of Gratitude

 With headlines such as "Never Taking Life for Granted" and "Join the Dance of Gratitude," A Network for Grateful Living (ANGeL) website provides a worldwide community dedicated to gratefulness as the core inspiration for personal change, international cooperation and sustainable activism.

Created by Brother David Steindl-Rast, a renowned Benedictine monk and author, ANGeL provides spiritual practices in cyberspace.

"Because gratefulness constitutes the common ground shared by all religious faiths, ANGeL offers bridges of tolerance that people of faith can cross to work with people from other traditions," according to the site.

Light a Candle is one of the most beloved tools: dedicate and light a candle, which will stay lit for 48 hours on the web, and burn down realistically during that time. Since 2001, more than 3 million candles have been lit.

Another popular feature is Gratefulnews, which chronicles ordinary people who daily build a grateful world through acts of creativity and compassion (a welcome antidote to the grim catastrophizing of mainstream news).

Make an interactive pilgrimage through a labyrinth, send beautiful, thoughtful e-cards, participate in many forums on a variety of topics, receive an e-newsletter, and read a large selection of inspirational literature from many spiritual practices - ANGeL is a place for practicing gratitude.

Visit www.gratefulness.org.

- Cathy McGuire