> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://the-stardust-journal-press.ghost.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Gratitude – In Three Parts: A Prayer, A Practice, A People
- URL: https://the-stardust-journal-press.ghost.io/gratitude-in-three-parts-a-prayer-a-practice-a-people/
- Published: 2025-06-14T12:19:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-01T16:51:03.000Z
- Author: Daniel Rutberg
- Tags: poetry, Prose, gratitude, healing, Loss, Poetry, sangha, yoga, #Migrated-1782924600586, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-01 12:50

---

**Part One – Angels**

If I’m not being guided by angels, I don’t know what to tell you  
Everywhere I go, everywhere I turn,  
I am finding new souls to connect with,  
on a level that, for most folks,  
happens once in a lifetime.  
This is not a soliloquy,  
on the oddity of this experience,  
but a prayer of thanks,  
an ode to the gods,  
more likely, goddesses,  
who have taken me into  
their care since you left.

---

**Part Two – Transforming**

My teacher, a yogi who I now call Rebbie,  
arranging us in the periphery,  
transforms a room into a sacred space.  
Likewise,  
weaving stories from her journey  
with tales of hard-won wisdom,  
with music that modulates  
the rhythm of our breathing,  
she leads us  
in an eyes-closed sit,  
an arms-raised breath,  
in unison turns,  
sweeping bends,  
arms in exaltation  
above our heads,  
and hands in prayer  
at our breast.  
And then, after  
we have wrapped arms  
one around the other—  
first left around right,  
and then the other—  
we find our balance  
as we teeter on  
right or left.  
Then finally,  
heart pumping,  
bodies covered in a light sheen,  
we lie on our backs  
and become one with the universe:  
**shavasana.**

---

**Part Three – My Sangha**

The other day  
We met on Zoom  
I missed the hugs and chit chat  
The fifth week of  
A six-week workshop  
The topic I could write a thesis on  
After our leader, cross-legged,  
set the stage with precision  
in a gentle voice,  
with a kind heart,  
Each of us  
exposed a wound,  
shed a tear,  
shared a story,  
held a picture up to the camera.  
And in that space and time,  
I felt an overwhelming love  
for these beings,  
no longer strangers,  
now members of my **sangha.**