My good friends, Candice Fuhrman and Gary Feidel invited me and some other friends to attend a poetry event to benefit the wonderful organization represented on the web site www.gratefulness.org.  The founder of the site is Brother David Steindl-Rast, who was born in Vienna in 1926 and has been a Benedictine monk since 1953.  In a short biography on the web site, we learn:

"After twelve years of monastic training and studies in philosophy and theology, Brother David was sent by his abbot to participate in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, for which he received Vatican approval in 1967. His Zen teachers were Hakkuun Yasutani Roshi, Soen Nakagawa Roshi, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and Eido Shimano Roshi. He co-founded the Center for Spiritual Studies in 1968 and received the 1975 Martin Buber Award for his achievements in building bridges between religious traditions.

Together with Thomas Merton, Brother David helped launch a renewal of religious life. From 1970 on, he became a leading figure in the House of Prayer movement, which affected some 200,000 members of religious orders in the United States and Canada.

 For decades, Brother David divided his time between periods of hermit's life and extensive lecture tours on five continents."

I invite you to visit wonderful and inspiring web-site, www.gratefulness.org which had over 6 million visitors last year!

The Gratefulness of Poetry readings were given from an amazing roster of award winning, nationally and internationally recognized poets and musicians, including Coleman Barks reciting/incanting the 12 century Sufi poet, Rumi; Jane Hirshfield; Simon Ortiz; Drew Dellinger and Roger Housden.  Despite the Super Bowl game in the afternoon, we had a full house, and I was delighted to close my eyes and soak in the images, sounds, and energy. 

This morning I open my copy of  The Essential Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne and read:

Birdsong brings relief

to my longing.

I am just as ecstatic as they are,

but with nothing to say!

Please, universal  soul, practice

some song, or something through me!